


Privilege 2

by Miraal



Series: Privilege [3]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Boarding School AU, Lies, Manipulation, Mind Games, Minor Character Death, Multi, Pop Star!Harry, Prince!Zayn, Secrets, deciet, powerful! louis, privilege part 2, rich teens, student president! liam
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-20
Updated: 2015-04-18
Packaged: 2018-01-20 03:01:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 26
Words: 121,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1494184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miraal/pseuds/Miraal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It’s a new semester in Prescott Academy and Niall doesn’t find the fresh start he’s searching for. On the contrary, he finds himself caught in an endless web of constant drama, lies and secrets.</p><p>Can he survive yet another insane semester?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi lovely people. I know this is SO late, and I apologize. I've been struggling with an insistent writer's block, which I'm not entirely over yet, considering how long it took me to write this chapter. This is the second part of Privilege and I hope you enjoy it x
> 
> Also, rating will increase accordingly.

Chapter one:

It’s the second week of the new semester and Niall is currently sitting in the guidance counselor’s office as Mr. Pitt fiddle through drawer after drawer, muttering intelligible words under his breath. Niall suppresses a sigh, fiddling nervously at his hair as he tries to distract himself from particularly memories this place triggers. His gaze falls on the half-eaten cherry-pie he’d caught Mr.Pitt eating. Niall doesn’t know how he stays so slim, considering Niall always catches him indulging in sugar-caked carbs.

Must be good genes. Niall thinks absentmindedly.

“Here it is!” Mr. Pitt exclaims, startling Niall out of his thoughts. Niall looks up as Mr.Pitt slides back into his office chair, sliding a blue folder towards the blonde. “This is a list and information of all the clubs and activities the school offers, Mr. Horan.”

“Thank you, Mr. Pitt,” Niall says with a smile, pulling the folder to him and casting a gaze on it, before getting to his feet.

“It’s a very good innovative you’re taking, Mr. Horan,” Mr. Pitt says, stopping Niall in his tracks. “You’re already getting top-grades in all of your classes and you’re playing for the lacrosse team. I’m sure you won’t have any problems getting into the university of your dreams.”

Niall’s flesh prickles with heat as he blushes at Mr. Pitt’s praising.

“Thank you, Mr.Pitt,” he says, not knowing what else to say. “I hope so too.” he adds.

“What university is it you want to apply to?” Mr. Pitt inquires curiously. Niall fingers the folder nervously.

“Uhm, Princeton,” he replies. 

Mr. Pitt’s whole face lights up at that. “Oh! Is that so?” He gets to his feet and walk around the desk, standing before Niall with an excited expression. “I, myself, am a Princeton Alumni, actually.”

Niall’s eyes widen in surprise. “Oh, I didn’t know!”

Mr. Pitt grins a bit, sitting back on the desk and crossing his arms.

“I’m going to tell you this much, Princeton would be lucky to have you,” he says and Niall’s heart swells; it’s one thing coming from his counselor - whose job is to motivate him - but from his _Princeton Alumni Counselor_ means a lot.

“Thank you _so_ much, Mr. Pitt,” Niall cracks a wide grin.

 

+

Niall decides on joining one club for now, and then he’ll see how it goes from there. He doesn’t want to stretch himself too thin, he already has much on his plate but the lacrosse season is nearly coming to an end so he’ll have more time on his hands.

He settles on the _Youth Leader Program_. It says there’s a lot of community service projects with local non-profit organizations and he’d like to help out; he’s especially interested in the debates about national affairs in the actual Senate House in DC. 

There’s a meeting already this evening in the class room building. Niall has a little difficulty finding the place but once he pushes open the door into the room, he doesn’t expect to find none other than _Stacy Stone_ standing in front of a small group, giving what seems to be a speech.

Niall freezes in the door as Stacy halts mid-speech, turning her sharp dark eyes on him. She looks surprised to see him, so does all the others in the room and Niall offers a nervous smile. Stacy doesn’t return the smile as he turns back to the group. “Stanley, will you take over here?”

A tall, gangly guy gets to his feet and walks over, taking Stacy’s spot. Stacy who has turned toward Niall, charging directly towards him with slightly narrowed eyes. Niall gulps as she grabs him and more or less drags him out of the classroom, closing the door behind her.

“Hey, Stacy,” Niall offers with an awkward smile. He and Stacy haven’t really interacted since the ‘incident’ last months, granted they’ve only been back at school a little over a week.

“What are you doing here?” She asks, lifting a perfectly shaped brow at him, crossing her arms and regarding him with that piercing gaze of hers.

“I came to be part of the club.” Niall nods toward the closed door and gives Stacy a challenging look. Stacy looks at him blankly before letting out a snort, shaking her head so a few strands escapes her ponytail.

“Nope,” she says firmly and Niall frowns.

“What? Why?” he asks confused. Seriously, he had thought that he and Stacy had a pretty decent relationship, granted all the shit that happened last semester.

Stacy gives him a look like it’s all kind of obvious and when Niall just gives her a confused stare, she lets out a deep sigh.

“Because you’re the epitome of trouble,” she deadpans with a straight expression, “if I let you in then this whole thing will burn up in flames in no time.” Niall gapes at her, half of him waiting for the punch-line, but the death serious expression on Stacy’s face gives the indication that there is none.

“Is this about what happened last year? That wasn’t my fault and you know it!”

“I still can’t get over that we were trying to find the murderer with _the murderer_ ,” Stacy seems to shudder visibly and Niall swallows heavily. “How fucked up is that?”

Niall shakes his head incredulously.”Are you really not letting me join the club because I didn’t know that I’d befriended a psychopath?” Niall hates that his voice grows a little high at the end. He can’t deny that he still feels affected by what happened last semester. Who wouldn’t?

“And then of course there’s the obvious, you’re friends with Louis,” Stacy says, leveling him with a judgmental gaze.

“What does that have to do with _anything_? I’m not Louis, I’m my own person,” Niall says, feeling a bit frustrated. Stacy raises a brow at him and scoffs.

“Oh really?” She says. “It isn’t like you’re one of many idiots who’s kissing the ground he walks on.” Stacy’s tone grows hard and Niall’s nose flares a bit.

“You know what? I’ll find another club.” He says coldly turning on his heels, this is not worth it anyway. He barely makes it a couple of steps away before Stacy lets out a sigh.

“ _Fine_ ,” she says, causing him to halt in his steps.”You can become a member, but don’t you dare ruin this. I’ve worked hard on it.”

Niall turns around to face her. “I wont.”

She still looks reluctant, but Niall is determined to change her view on him; he hates that she believes so firmly that Louis has him under his thumb.

“Come on, I’ll introduce you to the others.” She turns around and opens the door. Niall smiles, following her inside.

+

“That’s all for today. Remember to write down new suggestions for the upcoming meeting,” Stacy says to the group, gathering her papers. Everyone mumbles in agreement. 

Niall sits a little straighter on the chair he’d been sitting on, looking over the notes he’d been taking through the meeting. He discovered that apparently, there is this program called the United Nation Model where they get to have a debate in the _White House_. Just the thought of being in there makes Niall a little dizzy.

He’s daydreaming about having an intellectual conversation with the President when someone rudely snaps him out of his daydreaming by snapping their fingers in front of him. He snaps back to reality and blinks up at Stacy who’s staring down at him with a raised brow.

“I hope you weren’t in La La Land for the entire meeting, Horan,” she says and it’s the first time she’d called him by his last name and said in her superior voice, Niall doesn’t like it very much. 

“No, I wasn’t,” Niall says as he shoves his notebook bag in his bag and gets to his feet. The members leaving say their goodbyes to Stacy while they all ignore Niall. Judging by the unkind and suspicious looks he’s been giving all evening, he supposes they aren’t necessarily a fan of his. Something tells him his association with the most powerful kids on campus has something to do with that.

“So what did you think?” Stacy says, adjusting her silk scarf around her neck as she begins to walk out. Niall rushes a bit to catch up to her until he falls into step with her.

“Well, it was interesting. I liked it,” Niall says truthfully, “especially that United Nation Model program.”

Stacy shoots him a humorous smile. “I suppose that’s the only way your sorry ass would ever get into the White House.” She says as they walk through the double-doors leading outside in the cold air. Niall’s cheeks burns and he seriously considers slamming the door in her face.

“A dig at my humble up-bringing, how original,” he says sarcastically. 

“Oh come on, it was a joke,” She says with a roll of her eyes, cursing a little under her breath when a cold gush of wind blows her dark hair into her face. “Loosen up.”

“And if you were listening, we’ll have to win debates against other schools first,” She says.

“I was listening,” Niall replies as they take a turn around the class room building, on their way to the cafeteria for dinner. For a moment, Niall can’t believe that he’s walking with Stacy Stone to dinner, so much can change in so little time, he supposes. “I’m sure we’ll win.”

Stacy gives him a long side-ways glance. “Confident, aren’t we?” She says with a smirk. Niall returns it with a shrug.

“Well, we have to be, don’t we?”

They are not far from the cafeteria when someone calls Niall’s name behind him. Both he and Stacy stops up, turning around simultaneously only to see none other than Harry and Louis walking towards them. One is grinning widely and waving energetically, the other is leveling them with a rather condescending stare. Go figure who is who.

“I guess I’ll see you later,” Stacy says, shooting a scornful look at the two approaching boys before gracefully flipping her thick dark hair over her shoulder and strutting away. 

“See you,” Niall mutters and looks after her as she walks through the cafeteria door. He turns around as Louis and Harry reach him, falling in steps with them as they walk through the cafeteria door. He barely recognizes the many eyes immediately turning on them, having gotten too used to them already.

“I haven’t seen you all day, missed you,” Harry says, slinging an arm around Niall and pulling him closer. Harry sniffles terribly and then sneezes, making Niall push him away quickly.

“You’re sick, go away,” Niall says fondly, not liking the idea of catching Harry’s cold. Harry pouts and pinches him in the cheek. Niall slaps his hand away before cautiously glancing at Louis who’s been eyeing him.

“Since when did you become besties with Stacy Stone?” Louis asks then, a mocking tone to his voice. Niall stops up just before they reach their table and turn to look properly at Louis. Louis stops up too and Niall doesn’t like the cold look in his eyes. Meanwhile, Harry - always the oblivious one - continues to their table, falling into conversation with one of the girls there.

“We’re not besties,” Niall says, loosening the scarf as he feels hot in the warm cafeteria. “She’s the chairman of the Youth Club, which I became a member of this evening.” He doesn’t even understand why he feels like he owes Louis’ explanation. He should hang out with whoever he wants to without explaining himself.

Louis’ lips tilt up in a unamused smile as he slides his gaze over Niall’s frame in that condescending manner, only _he_ can achieve so well.

“Of course you did,” Louis says dryly and Niall swallows a bit.

“Do you have a problem with me hanging out with her?” Niall asks just as he feels a sudden tension spark between him and Louis. Louis doesn’t reply immediately, just looks at Niall with this unnerving gaze that has Niall feeling uncomfortable.

This tension between them isn’t something entirely new. Ever since their return to school, Louis has had this cold attitude towards him. Niall still doesn’t understand what the fuck he did wrong.

“What if I did?” Louis asks slowly, quietly and takes one step closer; one step more than what Niall feels comfortable with. Niall’s gaze flickers around quickly and he knows they’re gathering attention by now. He looks back into Louis’ cold blue eyes. There’s something like a challenge there.

“Then it would be just that,” Niall replies, meeting Louis’ gaze dead-on. “ _Your_ problem. Not mine.”

Louis admittedly looks surprised, but only for a split-second before he gets hold of himself, the cool mask slipping back on. He smirks then, a smirk that makes Niall nervous.

“You having a problem with her doesn’t mean I should too,” Niall says. “I’m my own person.” he repeats what he said to Stacy, dead-tired of people including Louis himself, thinking that he controls him, that Niall’s life orbits around Louis like some kind of satellite.

Louis cocks a brow.

“Of course you are, dear,” Louis says patronizingly, looking Niall up and down. “Whatever keeps you asleep at night.” And with that, Louis turns around walks away, leaving Niall staring after him. He has a strong feeling that his already strained relationship with Louis is going to be even more strained from now on.

“Hey, beautiful,” A voice says near his hear, making him jump a little startled and he spins around to face Zayn who’s chuckling at him. 

“Don’t sneak up on me like that, you idiot!” Niall smacks Zayn’s arm, though his heart swells a little at seeing the other’s crinkly-eyed smile. He hasn’t seen him since this noon. 

“Sorry,” Zayn says, giving a smirk that indicates he’s anything but. He slides his hand into Niall’s and together, they walk to the Privilege table. As he sits down, he feels someone’s eyes on him and as he looks up, he sees Louis looking. Louis doesn’t even flinch at being caught looking, just shoots Niall a cold smile before turning away. Niall swallows.

He opts to completely ignore Louis’ existence, no matter how impossible that seems, as he turns his attention to the waiter who has come to take his order. After that, he enters the silly and carefree banter going on by his end of the table.

“You have a streak of paint over your brow,” Niall says with a muffled giggle, touching the dried red paint on Zayn’s face. Zayn’s go all screw-eyed as he tries to look at it, making Niall laugh. “Here I’ll get it,” Niall says, grabbing a tissue and wetting it with the tip of his tongue before gently moving it over the paint.

“Thank you,” Zayn smiles, “I’ve been working on a piece all day, until I lost motivation completely,” Zayn’s smile is wiped away with a frown and Niall squeezes his shoulder.

“Hey, I’m sure you’ll find something to motivate you,” he says.

“You motivate me,” Zayn says with a sweet smile, making Niall’s cheeks grow a little pink.

“Awee, you’re such a sap, aren’t you,” Niall teases.

“Only for you,” Zayn says, batting his eyelashes exaggeratedly. Niall laughs, shaking his head. “Is this one of your ploys to get me to pose for you naked?” Niall eyes him suspiciously and Zayn actually looks a bit embarrassed. “Is it working?”

“You’re an idiot,” Niall says fondly, leaning in and kissing Zayn on the mouth. Zayn kisses back, hand curling around Niall’s waist and giving a gentle squeeze, causing the blonde to sigh contentedly into the kiss.

“Hey, Prince Charming,” A sharp, mocking voice cuts into the intimate moment, causing Zayn and Niall to pull away from each other. It takes a moment for Niall to realize that it’s Louis who interrupted them.

“Are you still going to that Royal dinner this weekend?” Louis asks nonchalantly, putting a piece of lasagna in his mouth. Niall pulls fully away from Zayn, blinking surprised. _What dinner_?

When he turns to look at Zayn questioningly, Zayn doesn’t meet his gaze, looking a bit uncomfortable all of a sudden. “Uhm yeah, why?” he says, sounding a bit defensive and frowning at Louis. Louis raises a brow, a few seats to his left, Liam has turned away from whatever Danielle had been telling him about, his wide-eyed gaze ping-ponging between Louis, Zayn and Niall. Niall feels his stomach curl a little and he shifts uncomfortably.

“I was just wondering if you still wanted to come to NY,” Louis says with a shrug, his gaze sliding to Niall for a split of a second before he turns back to his previous conversation. There’s a beat of silence where Niall doesn’t say anything and Zayn doesn’t look at Niall.

“What ‘Royal Dinner’?” Niall asks then. He can _feel_ Liam watching them from the corner of his eyes and why does this feel like a bigger deal than it is?

Zayn doesn’t reply immediately and when he does, he doesn’t meet Niall’s gaze, his gaze firmly on his tomato soup. “Oh just some boring dinner, it’s nothing really,” Zayn says with a shrug. 

“It doesn’t sound like a boring dinner,” Niall says, feeling more confused as to why Zayn is so stand-offish about this. “What is the occassion, when and where is it?” Zayn looks more uncomfortable with all the questions and that’s when it hits Niall.

“Oh,” he says, slumping in his seat and looking away from Zayn’s gaze. “Don’t worry, you don’t have to take me if you don’t want to.” Niall says flatly. He should’ve known from the beginning, of course the reason Zayn wouldn’t tell him about this dinner - that does seem like a bigger deal than it is - is because he didn’t know how to tell Niall that he couldn’t come. Niall is just some nobody from bumblefuck, Pennsylvania, of course Zayn wouldn’t want to be seen officially with him.

“No, babe, it’s not like that!” Zayn whisper-exclaims, grabbing Niall’s arm. Niall looks at him. “Then how is it, Zayn?” he asks, trying to keep the hurt out of his voice. Zayn fish-mouths, seemingly unable to find a good excuse. Niall’s smile doesn’t reach his eyes and he looks away from Zayn, in the process catching eyes with Louis. Louis who quickly looks away and Niall’s jaw clenches.

“It’s fine. I understand.” Niall unlatches Zayn’s grip on him and gets to his feet, walking away as he ignores Zayn’s calls.

+

Niall is sitting up against the headboard of his bed, wearing a frayed sweater and shorts, an old copy of _”To Kill A Mockingbird”_. He is trying to read the required pages for tomorrow’s English lessons, but he can’t concentrate. All he can do is think about how delusional he’d been all along. 

He’s sitting like that, lost in his thoughts when there’s a gentle knock on his door. He startles a bit, straightening up and looking toward the door.

“Come in,” he calls. The door opens and Zayn’s face comes into view, he gives Niall a wary smile as he enters, closing the door behind him. He casts a quick side-ways glance at Conrad’s empty side.

“Hey,” he says, returning his gaze on Niall. Niall glues his eyes on the book, “hey,” he mutters in a barely audible voice. He feels himself tense when Zayn walks over and sits down on the edge of the bed, his big eyes studying Niall.

“Niall,” Zayn says in a tone that makes Niall lift his gaze to his. “Babe, there’s nothing more I’d like than to take you to this dinner, but… I _can’t_.”

“Obviously,” Niall says flatly.

“This has nothing to do with you specifically, Niall,” Zayn says, moving further onto the bed and cautiously putting a hand on Niall’s naked leg. “It’s the fact that because of my position and where I come from, it would create a huge scandal for me to be seen with you. Not because you’re Niall Horan, but because you’re a _boy_.”

Niall lowers his book and looks properly at Zayn, staring at him in surprise.

“What?” he says a bit incredulously and Zayn bites down his lips, lowering his gaze from Niall’s disbelieving one. “Are..are you actually saying that we have to keep our relationship a secret?” Niall’s voice grows a bit high at the end with the emotions he feel: Zayn must be kidding. But when Zayn looks back at him, the look in his eyes indicate anything but. Niall feels his stomach churn.

“You know I would never willingly hide anything I have with you, Niall,” Zayn says, almost sounding desperate, his hold on Niall’s thigh tightening a bit. “Buti can’t do anything about it. If anyone outside the school found out about us, I’d be screwed forever.”

Niall pulls his lips into his mouth and take a deep breath through his nose. He claps the book together and places it next to him.

“So what Zayn, we can only be together happily inside the walls of Prescott?” Niall’s voice wavers a little and he continues before Zayn can say anything, “What happens when we graduate in a year and a half? When I go to Princeton and you go wherever? Then it’s over or what?”

“No!” Zayn exclaims, grabbing Niall’s hand but Niall jerks away from his touch. “That’s not what I said, Niall, I-“

“Then what’re you saying, Zayn?” Niall questions, frustrated when his eyes grow blank with tears. “You just told me that you can’t be seen publically with me. So what, from now on we’ll go on dates in the cafeteria? Have book-dates in the library? Take a stroll around the campus?” Niall says sarcastically.

“Listen, we can still go out together!” Zayn rushes to say, “I’m not like I am a celebrity here, it’s not like with Harry. It’s just the social functions that I can’t bring you with me. We can still go wherever we want. It doesn’t have to end, you know I would never-”

“In other words, you would never let me meet your parents or family as your boyfriend,” Niall says in a small voice as he shakes his head. He pulls away from Zayn and gets to his feet, feeling queasy and shaky and _hurt_. “And you never bothered to tell me this.”

“Niall, you have to understand-“ Zayn begins.

“No, _you_ have to understand, Zayn,” Niall cuts him off, turning around to face him. Zayn has also gotten to his feet and is now staring at Niall with a wary expression. 

“The _only_ thing that has ever gone right in my life is that I’ve never had to hide who I am,” Niall says, voice shaking slightly. He remembers his parents and brother’s full support, the way they’d accepted him and assured him that they’d always love him regardless of who he felt attracted. And now Zayn is telling him that he has to keep their relationship under wraps - just _no_.

“Do you think I want this?” Zayn asks, sounding frustrated. “It’s not up to me, Niall. If it was, I would take everywhere and show you off you off to everyone, let them now that I’m lucky to have you.” Zayn has stepped up to Niall now and he takes his hands, looking into his eyes with his amber ones; they’re swimming with unhidden emotions. “Niall, I love you,” he says quietly, a small coy smile tugging at his lips, “nothing is ever going to change that.”

Niall can’t hold back the treacherous tear that escapes and slides down his cheek, warm against the already flushed skin. 

“I...love you too,” Niall whispers, lowering his gaze for a bit. “What’s going to happen then?” and when he asks that, he means what’s going to happen to their relationship. They aren’t going to be living under the same roof forever and they can only keep their relationship ‘unofficial’ for so long.

“We’ll figure it out, I promise.” Zayn whispers and kisses the tear away, cupping Niall’s cheek and brushing his skin gently. Niall lets out a shuddering breath as he leans into Zayn, letting the Prince pull him into a hug. They stand there in each other’s embrace for a while, just breathing each other in and finding comfort in each other’s heat. Zayn brushes his fingers through Niall’s hair and kisses his earlobe.

“Can I sleep with you tonight?” Zayn asks, “uhm, I mean in your bed.” He adds and Niall lets out a small laugh as he pulls away. 

“Of course,” he mutters.

Later they are lying together under the duvets, Niall’s head resting on Zayn’s chest, head tucked under the other’s neck. Zayn’s is stroking Niall’s arm gently, the only sound in the room coming from Conrad’s insistent snoring. 

“How do you even sleep with that?” Zayn asks and Niall lets out a small sigh, quickly followed by a yawn.

“Dunno, guess I’ve gotten used to it,” he says, eyes dropping a bit. It has been a long day.

“We should room together next year,” Zayn says off-handedly. “Liam is going to graduate in a few months, so you could move in. I think our room is a bit bigger.”

“That sounds good,” Niall mutters sleepily. “Louis is going to graduate too,” he says without really meaning to. He blinks, surprised by himself.

Zayn hums in reply. “It’s going to be a bit strange without them, don’t you reckon?”

“I can’t even imagine Prescott without Louis,” Niall says, absentmindedly drawing circles on Zayn’s belly. “It’d be too weird.” Niall can’t help but compare Prescott without Louis as a country without its dictator. A bit extreme, he knows, but Louis has been an asshole since they came back to school. Niall can’t help but think back to his snarky comment earlier at dinner and he frowns, no doubt that Louis is just mad because Niall is hanging out with Stacy.

“I still want you to come with me,” Zayn says carefully, breaking Niall out of his thoughts. Niall blinks and shifts a bit.

“What?” he says then, confused. “I thought-“

“You could still come with me, we’d just have to-“

“Not touch each other, maybe I can’t even look at you for more than a few seconds?” Niall asks bitterly, “no thank you.” He still isn’t used to the thought and he sure as hell doesn’t want to go to some super fancy dinner and act like Zayn and he are just friends.

Zayn sighs above him.

“Please, come? It’d be nice having you there,” Zayn pleads, playing a bit with Niall’s hair. Niall is quiet for a moment as he wonders what else he could be doing in the weekend; quite frankly he doesn’t have anything else planned. Maybe he should go and see what it’s like to be Zayn’s secret lover, it might not be as bad as it feels. _As if_.

“…fine.” Niall mutters.

“Great.” Niall can hear the smile in Zayn’s voice as the boy squeezes him a bit closer, “We should go shopping soon then - is Thursday good?”

“I can’t on Thursday,” Niall says, “Wednesday is good.”

“Wednesday it is then,” Zayn says, “Let’s sleep now. I have a quiz tomorrow.” He kisses the top of his head and shifts until he’s lying in a more comfortable position.

He falls asleep before Niall while Niall lies awake a whole hour, just listening to the soft, even breathing of Zayn and pondering over if he’s delusional to think that what they have can ever work out for the better.

He really hopes so.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was easier to get out than the other. I haven't proofread so I hope the mistakes aren't too outrageous! (if they're then please let me know!)
> 
> Enjoy lovelies xx

Chapter 2

The place where the Royal Dinner is held is just as incredible as the place of the Dubai Bash last year. Niall is amazed that there are so many breath-taking locations within DC.

The memories of last year’s bash also come with the memories of Perrie and Zayn together. Especially when Niall is ushered through some other door than the main, which he can only assume is for people with less significance. And as he watches the blitzes go off in Zayn’s face, he can’t help but remember him and Perrie being together, being seen together as a _couple_ , a thing Niall can’t do for the simple reason that he’s a _boy_. 

It doubtlessly ruins most of the night, no matter how much Niall tries to shake it off of him. As he unsuccessfully suppresses the negative thoughts, he looks around the place, admiring it all the while trying not to look like the big gawping idiot that he is. Zayn on the other hand, only seems amused by how awed Niall is.

Niall somehow regrets coming right from the starts when he sees the big oval room where the unofficial reception is held. Everywhere he looks, he sees royalties; King and Queens from faraway countries, princess and princesses, ambassadors and senators and other people of national importance. Obviously, he doesn’t feel like he belongs _at all_. At least last year, all the other boys had been there. Now, he can’t even get a comforting hand-squeeze from Zayn.

Zayn introduces him to this snotty kid who’s apparently the son of the US ambassador to the Netherlands. Niall is afraid that he’ll break his teeth with how hard he clenches them when Zayn introduces him as _“a good friend from school.”_ Then Zayn is whisked away by an elegant-looking lady, leaving Niall in the mercy of this highly self-absorbed kid named Richard, whose favorite topic is himself.

He talks and talks and _talks_ until Niall isn’t listening anymore, just looking at him and nodding absentmindedly all the while wondering how he can get out of this one. It’s first when Richard is waving a hand in his face with an annoyed expression that Niall realizes he’d zoomed out.

“Huh?” Niall says dumbly, blinking and looking into Richard’s pinched-up face. 

“I asked you something,” Richard says dryly. “In which position do your parents work?”

Niall doesn’t answer immediately, partly because he’s surprised this kid actually asked him a question just when Niall thought he liked the sound of his own voice, partly because he isn’t sure what to reply. _My father is a mechanic and my mother is a professional pill abuser?_

Apparently, Niall doesn’t have to worry of what Richard might think as the boy gets bored with him. “I think I’ll find better company,” He says with a huff and turns on his heels, leaving Niall behind.

Niall lets out a sigh and grabs a glass of champagne from a by-passing waiter, taking a large, ungraceful sip. He has a feeling he isn’t getting through this one without at least a little alcohol in the system.

He’s standing to the side and surveying the going-ons, feeling a little miserable when his phone beeps in his pocket. He pulls his iPhone out only to see that he has received a snap-chat from Harry. He lets out a surprised gasp when he sees the picture which earns him some odd looks from a couple of uptight looking middle-aged men standing a few feet away. 

Harry has sent him a picture of himself and none other than _Patrick from Fall Out Boy_ with the caption “look who I met tonight.” Niall has been a huge fan of them since their comeback a couple of years ago, so of course, has a bit of a fan-boy moment, letting out a panicked sound when the snap disappears; this time, he gets another almost concerned look from the middle-aged men. He shoots them a quick, embarrassed smile before walking a few feet away.

He types out a quick message to Harry, _you lucky bastard! I wanna meet them too :(!_ and sends it on its way. He knows that Harry was attending a fashion show in New York and Niall wishes he was with him rather than here where he has to pretend he is a ‘good friend’ of Zayn’s and have conversation with snotty, rich kids. 

Harry replies with a video-message where Patrick is greeting him by name and Niall swears, if he wasn’t standing in a room full of influential people, he might have let out a girly screech. For the first time that night, a huge grin takes over his face. Trust Harry to make his night even though he’s miles away; it’s like he knew Niall needed this.

Niall takes a step forward, eyes still glued on his phone and he bumps into someone, champagne sloshing over the edge of the glass and right onto a pair of high heels. 

“Oh my God!” Niall exclaims, eyes snapping up to the owner who turns out to be a girl around his age. “I’m so, so, so sorry!” he says, flustered as he fishes a napkin out of his pocket and bows down, drying the liqour off the girl’s shoes 

“I should’ve looked where I’m going, I’m so sorry,” Niall repeats embarrassed as he straightens up.

“It’s alright. No harm done,” She says with a kind smile and first then does Niall notice the rather thick accent. Niall lets out a relieved breath, thanking his few lucky stars as he is sure had it been anyone else, they’d raise holy hell.

“My name is Chanel,” the girl introduces herself then, extending a slim hand and Niall takes it, a bit surprised and shakes it. 

“I’m Niall.”

“Nice to meet you, Niall,” Chanel says and first then when Niall takes a proper look at her does he see that she’s actually really good-looking; smooth dark skin and deep ebony eyes. 

“You too,” Niall says, still feeling awfully embarrassed and he mentally curses Harry for distracting him like that, even though he knows it’s his own fault. Chanel smiles at him again and she seems really nice. A waiter comes and offers them drinks, but Chanel declines.

“I don’t drink,” She tells him, though she does take a hors d'oeuvres and Niall is a little intrigued at her accent so he can’t help but ask.

“Where are you from?” He asks before quickly adding, “If I might ask.”

“Jamaica,” She replies. “Who are you here with?”

“Oh, just a…close friend.” The words taste sour in his mouth, so he quickly takes a sip of champagne in hopes of washing it away. He ends up standing there for a few more minutes with Chanel and he enjoys her company a hell lot more than Richard’s. She’s the daughter of the prime minister of Jamaica, no surprise there and when Niall actually tells her where he’s from, she doesn’t walk away as he’d thought. On the contrary, she is curious.

“Who is this friend you’re here with?” She asks at one point and Niall fights down a grimace at the “friend” as he turns to find Zayn with his eyes. He finds him talking to an elder couple and he points him out for Chanel.

Chanel takes more time looking at Zayn than what’s necessary, but Niall doesn’t make much of it before she says, “Oh, he’s the Prince of Dubai, yes? He’s indeed as handsome as I’ve heard.” Niall blinks as he first then, recognizes the interest in Chanel’s eyes.

“Yes, he’s my…” Niall trails off, mouth going a bit dry as he realizes he’d been about to say _boyfriend_ out of pure instinct, but instead, he snaps his mouth tightly.

“…your friend,” Chanel finishes his sentence, obliviously of course, “yes, you said that”. She turns to look at him with an almost shy smile. “Could you maybe introduce me to him?”

 _Hell, no_.

Niall forces a smile upon his lips. “Uhm, I think he’s a bit busy.” And if Chanel notices the almost there snap in his voice, she doesn’t show. Instead, she turns her full attention back on Zayn, looking at him in a way that makes Niall nearly crush the glass in his hand.

Of course Zayn would catch attention tonight, what with the way he looks like he’d walked right off the cat-walk in Milan; all nice and groomed in his thousand dollar tux. And _of course_ Zayn chooses just then to look over and catch eyes with Niall before excusing himself from the couple he’d been talking to, making his way toward him.

“He’s coming over here,” Chanel says, sounding almost nervously as she fiddles a bit with her hair. 

“Having fun?” Zayn asks as he reaches them and Niall replies with a stiff smile. Zayn gives him a concerned look before turning to acknowledge Chanel.

“Chanel Simpson,” Chanel says with a bashful smile, extending her hand and Zayn takes it, kissing it. He gives her a smile. “Zayn Malik.”

Chanel looks star-struck for a moment and when Niall says that Chanel has hearts in her eyes, he isn’t exaggerating.

“Nice to meet you, Zayn,” Chanel says and is it just Niall or is she batting her eyelashes unnecessarily?

“You too,” Zayn nods and smiles before turning back to Niall. “Hey, there’s this cool painting I want to show you.” he says and Niall is seconds away from snapping that he doesn’t want to see some stupid painting, but before he can, Chanel beats him to it.

“Do you mean the _Garden of Love_ by Wassily Kandinsky?” Chanel asks and Zayn turns back to her with piqued interest. 

“Yes, that’s the one,” Zayn says.

“May I accompany you?” Chanel asks and Niall opens his mouth, about to say something he sin’t sure of but once again, he isn’t given the chance as Zayn nods.

“Sure thing.”

And that’s how Niall finds himself forced to watch Chanel and Zayn stand before a painting Niall doesn’t know what is, going on and on about _”father of abstract work”_ and _”the way he used that color to symbolizes the chaos going on at the time”_. Meanwhile, Niall is grinding his teeth together, doing everything in his power not to rip off that hand Chanel keeps putting on Zayn’s arm or march up and kiss Zayn just to show her that Zayn is _his_ and her drooling over him isn’t appreciated.

It’s then that Niall fully realizes that Zayn can never talk to him about art in the same way he does Chanel, simply because Niall doesn’t share the passion even though he wouldn’t have problems watching the way Zayn’s lips moves. (A thing he seems to share with Chanel) 

It can’t be more than 10 minutes or so before it’s time for the main course of the dinner, but those 10 minutes feel like a millennium, especially when some girl is openly flirting with your boyfriend in front of you and you can do nothing while said boyfriend lets her.

Chanel says goodbye by kissing Zayn on the cheek and Niall is a breath away from strangling her. Forget everything he thought about her, he already hates her even though he can’t blame her.

To say that Niall is silently fuming would be an understatement. He can’t even enjoy the dinner and when Zayn subtly puts a steady hand on his bouncing knee, he knocks it off of him and shoots Zayn a discreet glare. Much to Niall’s frustration, Zayn only looks confused.

This is going to be a _long_ night.

+

The awful dinner finally comes to an end and the only reason Niall gets through it without stabbing Zayn in the face with a fork is pure self-control.

Zayn’s stupidly confused face only makes it worse.

“Babe, what’s wrong?” He asks when they’re later sitting in the limo on their way back to home. He scoots closer to Niall and attempts to put an arm around him but Niall shoves him off.

“Nothing,” Niall says in a cutting voice and Zayn frowns at him.

“Something is obviously wrong, would you just tell me?” Zayn asks, a tint of plead in his voice and he raises his hand but Niall briskly shakes his head.

“Niall-“

“I’m fine, alright?” Niall snaps none too gently and Zayn stares at him for one long moment before letting out a soft sigh and turning his face, looking out of the other window.

As soon as the car pulls up in front of the dorm does Niall jump out without waiting for the chauffeur to open the door and storms off.

“Niall! Niall! Niall, wait!” Zayn yells after him. He catches up to him and forces him to an halt by grabbing hold of his elbow and tugging him back so Niall almost collapses into him.

“Let _go_!” Niall sneers, jerking away from Zayn.

“Would you cut the passive aggressive bullshit already and tell me what I did?” Zayn snaps heatedly and something inside of Niall boils over and he sees red. 

He spins around and walks the few steps separating him and Zayn, glaring so furiously into Zayn’s eyes that Zayn looks wary. 

“You know what’s bullshit, Zayn?” Niall asks slowly, voice wavering with anger. “What’s bullshit is that I have to watch some other chick drool all over you without being able to do _anything_ about it. _That’s_ bullshit!”

Zayn’s eyes widen and he stares at Niall incredulously.

“What are you even talking about? We were just _talking_! And you were standing right there!” He says defensively and Niall shakes his head briskly.

“She was literally all over you, either you’re oblivious or stupid,” Niall says harshly and Zayn frowns deeply.

“Niall, don’t make a problem where there’s none,” Zayn says in a careful tone.

“Well there is a problem here, the problem is that you’re calling me your _friend_ ,” Niall spits the word out like it’s venom in his mouth.

“We already talked about this. It’s not my choice!” Zayn says impatiently and Niall scoffs loudly.

“Yeah, of course not,” He bits out, pulling his coat closer around him; it’s the end of January and colder than ever.

Zayn lets out a frustrated sigh, running his hand through his hair. “You’re being jealous, babe, even though there’s no reason to be. You’re being unreasonable.”

“I’m being unreasonable?” Niall says as he stares incredulously at Zayn, “Me being upset that you’re letting girls eye-rape you? Don’t call me unreasonable, Zayn. You know what, go fuck yourself.”

Before Zayn can retort, Niall spins on his heels and storms through the doors into Privilege House. 

 

+

“Oh God! I don’t even know _why_ I bother with school,” Harry groans dramatically as he and Niall makes their way across campus after a long day of classes; they’d just conducted their experiment in physics. Or Niall had, Harry had looked confused; adorably confused, but confused nonetheless.. “I mean, I could be a full-time music artist, so why am I wasting my time with guantrum Physics?”

“Quantum Physics,” Niall corrects and blows out a breath, watching it turn into a cloud of smoke in the frosty weather.

“Yeah, yeah,” Harry says, waving his hand around dismissingly. “Why did I choose Physics this semester again?”

“Because I chose it,” Niall says with a roll of his eyes. When he’d mentioned he wanted to try Physics, Harry had said he wanted to as well. And while Harry might be an international super star, the kid sucks majorly at science.

“That’s true,” Harry says with a thoughtful frown, muttering something about worst decisions ever. “It’s not fair you know? You can’t be both pretty and smart. I’m envious.” Harry reaches over to pinch his cheek and Niall bats his hand away.  
“Why _do_ you go to school anyway?” Niall asks, genuinely curious. “You’re right. You’re an international popstar, sold over 50 million singles, 6 millions albums, you have over 1 billion oneline hits, what the fuck _are_ you doing here?”

Harry eyes Niall suspiciously.

“Why do I have a feeling you’ve been stalking me?” he asks teasingly and Niall’s cheeks flushes a light pink. 

“Uh, I haven’t.” he says too quickly and rather unconvincingly. He might or might not have looked Harry up at night he was bored and he respects Harry for being one of few in this school who has made a name for himself. 

“Oh yeah? You don’t Google pictures of me shirtless?” Harry teases, waggling his eyebrows and laughing out loud when the red in Niall’s cheek grows brighter.

“Shut up, you idiot,” Niall mutters, smacking Harry on the arm.

“Anyway, my parents want me to have a degree,” Harry admits when his laughter dies down. “They want me to at least finish high school, so I can begin college whenever; something about having somewhere to fall back to. I really just want to sing and I’ve been thinking about going into acting as well.”

“Hmmm,” Niall says distracted, not really listening. He’s caught sight of Zayn exiting the café and something inside of his chest tugs when he sees that stupid flawless face. They haven’t talked since a couple of nights ago, mainly because Niall have been avoiding Zayn.

Niall comes to an abrupt halt when Zayn holds the door for a gorgeous dark-skinned girl with ringlets of inky hair.

Chanel.

What. The. Fuck.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Niall mutters under his breath, staring incredulously; what the fuck is she doing here?

Harry stops up a few feet ahead, spinning around and shooting Niall a confused look.

“What is it?” He asks, turning to follow Niall’s burning gaze. He whistles lowly. “She’s hot.” 

Niall’s jaw clenches tightly as he watches her say something that makes Zayn smile and why is she standing so awfully close to him?

“Let’s go over there. I want to introduce myself,” Harry smirks, flipping his curls to the side as he walks away. Niall stands behind for a moment, fighting an internal struggle; on one hand, there are 1000 places he’d rather be, on the other, he’d like to know what Chanel is doing here.

He curses under his breath as he half-runs to catch up to Harry.

Zayn sees them coming and as he meets Niall’s eyes, he looks nervous and wary.

“Niall. Harry.” He says, stepping a bit toward them and Chanel turns to look at them as well, giving them a sweet lip-gloss smile. She doesn’t notice Harry ogling her, or maybe she just chooses to ignore; smart girl. 

“Hey babe,” Zayn says, stepping closer to Niall and before Niall can react, Zayn has plants a wet kiss smack on his mouth, taking the blonde by surprise. When he pulls away, Niall’s mouth is hanging a little open as he stares wide-eyed at Zayn who just smiles at him.

“Chanel, you’ve already met Niall…” Zayn turns to look at Chanel who’s gaping at them as well. “…my boyfriend.”

Chanel opens and closes her mouth at least three times, looking like a gaping fish before she chokes out an _oh_. Niall’s heart swells and he slips his hand into Zayn who squeezes back, giving him one of his private smiles. Niall has to fight down the urge to immaturely shout _take that, bitch!_ into Chanel’s pretty face.

“This is Harry Styles,” Zayn says, nodding toward said boy. “Harry, this is Chanel.”

Chanel forcefully tears her gaze from Zayn and Niall as she gathers herself. “Nice to meet you, Harry,” she says and Harry grabs her gloved hand, planting his lips there for longer than necessary.

“The pleasure is purely mine, Chanel,” he says, giving her his trademark charming smile, complete with dimples. Any other girl who’d have blushed and swooned, but Chanel doesn’t look impressed in the least. She just smiles sweetly and slips her hand out of Harry’s.

“What are you doing here?” Niall asks her, unable to tame his curiousity for much longer.

“I transferred here,” Chanel says, turning to look at him.

“What, why?” Niall blurts, not caring that he might sound rude. 

Chanel blinks and it hits Niall. He realizes that she transferred here for _Zayn_ and as he realizes that, he nearly wants to smack her.

“I’ve been searching for a good school the last semester and Prescott had good reviews,” She replies simply, “I have a lot of unpacking to do, so I’ll just see you later.” She nods toward them and walks away.

“How fucking ridiculous,” Niall blurts out, staring after her.

“What?” Zayn asks confused and Niall stares at him.

“I can’t decide whether you’re oblivious or simply stupid,” he says in a harsher tone than intended and when Zayn’s eyes narrows, Niall mutters a quick apology.

“I’m going back to the dorm. I have to change before dinner,” Niall says, vaguely gesturing to his uniform and attempts to slip his hand out of Zayn’s but Zayn stubbornly holds on.

“I’m coming,” Zayn says and gives Niall a look that says, “we should talk”. Niall suppresses a sigh and nods.

“Why didn’t she throw herself at me?” Harry asks just as Niall has forgotten about his presence and Niall turns to see him still staring after Chanel. “Don’t she know who I am?”

Zayn and Niall automatically exchange a look and roll their eyes, laughing.

“Not everyone is a fan of you pop boy,” Zayn says, and Harry mocks a gasp.

“That’s blasphemy!”

+

Zayn follows Niall into his room and Niall is a little disappointed that Conrad is nowhere to be found. He doesn’t have the energy to talk with Zayn today, the classes have already fried his brain.

He begins to take off his uniform as a form of stalling for time. He surely doesn’t expect Zayn to come up behind him, his hot breath fanning across the sensitive flesh of his neck and Niall shivers when Zayn’s ice-cold fingers dances across his collarbone as he begins unbuttoning his shirt for him.

Niall can’t deny that he missed Zayn the past couple of days and he lets himself fall back into Zayn’s solid body, letting his familiar scent of expensive cologne and dried paint soothe him. 

“I wish things were different and I understand why you’re upset,” Zayn says quietly, kissing the back of Niall’s neck. “It makes me upset too, trust me. I wish I could change it, but I can’t.”

Niall lets out a soft sigh, letting Zayn pull the shirt over his shoulders. “I know…it just sucks,” he mutters, trying not to be hyper-aware of Zayn slowly unbuckling his belt.

“It does,” Zayn agrees. “I’m really sorry.”

“I am too.” Niall pauses before adding, “She’s here because of you.”

“No, she’s not,” Zayn says firmly, “And even if she was, which I’m sure she isn’t, it wouldn’t matter.”

Zayn pulls the belt out and lets it clatter to the ground before turning Niall around and Niall’s breath comes a bit short at the softness in Zayn’s eyes. 

“I only have eyes for you, baby,” he says quietly, cupping Niall’s cheek and stroking the skin gently. “It doesn’t matter if Chanel is here or not, alright?”

Niall smiles, leaning closer and kissing Zayn. “Alright,” he mutters against Zayn’s lips and he feels them curve up in a smile. Zayn kisses the corner of his mouth before kissing him properly on the lips, deeply and passionately, causing Niall to sigh into it.

Niall fingers find their way into Zayn’s hair as the kiss grows more heated and Zayn caress his sides, his hand sliding to his back and downwards.

“Uhm- Zayn. I’m hungry,” Niall says, voice cutting off into a moan when Zayn’s hand find its way to his ass. Zayn stubbornly begins a journey down his neck, “we can have something from the vending machine,” Zayn suggest against his neck, before lifting his face and kissing Niall on the mouth.

Niall laughs breathlessly into the kiss and forcefully pushes him away. “I’m not going to have chips and coke for dinner. Get off.”

Zayn lets out a dramatic sigh, “Fine. But you owe me,” he says with a dirty smirk and pinches Niall’s ass. Niall flushes and bats Zayn hand away.

He quickly throws on some clothes and takes Zayn’s hand as they leave together to the canteen. 

+

 

“I just need a bit help with the analyzing, it’ll be on the oral exam next week,” Niall says as he and Liam walks along the cobble path toward the library. “And poetry isn’t my strong side.”

Liam nods.

“I’ll help you, sure, but why aren’t you asking Zayn? He’s obviously a lot better at poetry and literature than anyone in this school,” Liam questions, “Or are you two still fighting?”

Niall blushes a bit as he whips open the door to the library, the warmth and smell of books greeting them; he holds the door for Liam, before following him in.

“No, no we’re not fighting,” Niall says, he doesn’t particularly enjoy that Liam knows so much about their relationship. “What did he tell you?” Niall asks, trying to sound nonchalant.

Liam shrugs.

“He was saying something about a girl at the dinner,” he says and he stops up as they reach their usual table, shrugging off his coat. 

“Yeah, Chanel,” Niall more or less sneer her name out as he pulls out the chair next to Liam more forcefully than necessary. 

“Niall, you aren’t jealous, are you?” Liam cowers a little, with wide puppy eyes when Niall shoots him an annoyed glare.  
“I’m _not_ jealous!” He huff. “It’s just…” he gnaws at his lip. “She’s really pretty you know? and _new_ , maybe Zayn is getting bored with me.” He groans and buries his face in his hand embarrassed that he actually said that out loud, but it’s true. He’s nobody from a nobody town and Zayn can’t even introduce him publically as his boyfriend. Chanel on the other hand is the daughter of a Prime Minister and shares the passion of art with Zayn. How can Niall even compete with that?

He feels Liam rubs his back, which just makes him feel worse.

“Hey, don’t say that, Zayn would never be bored of you,” Liam says, voice soft and comforting. “Besides, she’s not all that pretty. I think you’re a lot more attractive than she is.”

Niall’s cheeks pink. He looks at Liam who smiles back at him.

“Really?” he asks, because a little ego-boost from Liam surely can’t hurt.

“Yeah,” Liam says with a smile. “Why would Zayn want her when he can have snowy skin and pretty blue eyes?”

“Okay, should I be worried?” A female voice says from behind them, startling Niall badly. Niall turns around in his chair and the flaming blush on his cheeks doesn’t help when he sees Danielle standing behind them with a stack of books in her hands, eyeing them with amused eyes.

“No!” He more or less shouts when he realizes what Liam’s last few words must’ve sounded like, the shout gains him pretty much everyone’s attention in the library and the librarian actually comes to give them a stern stare. Niall sinks in his chair, cheeks flaming and he buries his face in his hands with a small groan.

Danielle chuckles quietly and slides into the chair across from him and Liam. “You’re so cute, Niall,” she teases and takes a bite of a bright, red apple. 

Niall merely huffs and pouts and it doesn’t get better when Harry and Louis join them at their table. Niall knows he’s not going to get anything done now.

Niall and Louis catches eyes for a moment or two and Niall’s heart picks a bit up in speed, before he quickly concentrates his gaze elsewhere. He and Louis haven’t talked properly in over a week and Niall can’t deny him that he actually misses him.

“What was all the commotion about?” Louis asks with a bored expression as he sits down, throwing his books and maps carelessly onto the table. One assignment peeks out and Niall’s interest is piqued when he sees the big fat, red A+ on it. He sneakily reaches over and grabs it.

“Liam was cheating on me with Niall,” Danielle says in good humor. 

“It’s not what it looked like!” Liam exclaims, playing along. 

“I can’t blame you Liam, our Niall is simply irresistible!” Harry gushes in a high-pitched voice, pretending to fawn over the blonde.

Niall ignores them as he looks at Louis’ assignment; it’s History. He doesn’t understand. He rarely sees Louis in the library and when he does, it’s because he’s bored with nothing else to do. Niall can’t recall that he’s ever seen him opening a book and actually reading. He wouldn’t be surprised if Louis had struck a deal with some brainy student. It sounds like something he’d do.

“Yeah, everyone seems to be cheating with Niall nowadays.”

Niall’s gaze snaps up, his blood going icy in his veins as he stares at Louis. Louis who looks gorgeous as ever in a comfortable grey, black-stripped sweater and tousled bangs. Louis whose wearing a playful smile, but his blue eyes are as cold as the tone he’d used to say those words.

The whole table is enveloped in uncomfortable silence and it’s painfully obvious what exactly that Louis is referring to Niall being with Zayn and Harry while they were with Perrie and him; maybe he’s even hinting when they kissed at Niall’s hometown while Niall was somewhat with Zayn.

Niall stares at Louis, a part of him expecting for Louis’ eyes to go just a bit softer around the edges but Louis looks back with the same cold gaze. Harry is glaring at Louis, Liam is pretending to be deeply engrossed in a book and Danielle… Danielle’s brows are furrowed and she’s gnawing at her lips as if she’s actually worried that… Niall’s stomach flips

“I-I think I’ll just work in my room,” he stammers, quickly getting to his feet and hastily gathering his books. He absolutely hates himself for the burn in his eyes and he’ll be damned if he gives Louis the satisfaction of seeing how much his words has gotten to him.

“Don’t be so sensitive, it was a joke,” Louis says and Niall shoots him a hurt look. Louis actually looks guilty for a second there, but then he’s rolling his eyes. “Too soon, I guess.”

Niall turns around and storms off, the last he hears is Harry quietly hissing to Louis; “Why are you being such a prick?”

+

Niall needs comfort or in other words _Zayn_.

As much as Niall hates it, Louis’ words have always meant more to him than he was happy with. Hearing such harsh words falling from his mouth and seeing that doubtful look in Danielle’s eyes is beyond hurtful; he can’t believe that she’d ever think that.

 

Niall can’t believe that Louis is acting like this just because Niall is talking with Stacy. But then again, he’d been like that even before he’d seen him with Stacy and Niall bites down his lip as he realizes that maybe it had something to do with their kiss. 

It makes Niall angry, because _Louis_ was the one who’d wanted to put it behind them, he’d been the one who’d said to pretend it never happened yet he’s being a total dickhead.

Anyways, he needs a Zayn hug, but Zayn isn’t taking his phone and Niall is sure he’s done working on the art project for now. He hates the dread that swirls inside of him; where is Zayn?

Niall thinks he might be in the art cemetery; more times than not Zayn loses sense of time when he’s working on one of his pieces and Niall has to go and get him so he can get some sleep. Seems like one of those times.

Niall grabs his coat and heads out.

…

Niall pushes open the heavy door into the building with one hand, his other hand carrying a tray of warm drinks. He smiles when he sees the dim light seeping out of the art cemetery; he was right, Zayn is working.

Niall walks over and pushes open the door. The scene that meets him makes him freeze in the doorway.

Chanel is there with Zayn. They’re sitting on the beat-up couch, knees touching, bent over some painting or another, quietly discussing it. The table is littered with empty drinks and leftover pastries; seems like they’ve been here for a while.  
Niall can’t believe it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Que the drama.
> 
>  
> 
> Most of the next chapter is written so you might get it as soon as tomorrow!
> 
> Thank you x


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

“Niall! Wait! Niall, _stop_!”

Niall hisses annoyed when Zayn catches up to him just outside the art cemetery and grabs his arm, forcefully stopping him up. Niall spins around to face Zayn and yanks his arm out of his grab.

“Niall, what’s wrong?” Zayn asks seemingly genuinely confused and Niall wants to hit him so badly.

“What’s _wrong_!? What is she doing in there!?” Niall shakes Zayn off of him, suddenly annoyed by his close proximity so he takes a step back.

“I don’t know what it is you think was going on, but I was just showing her my work, she wanted to see it, that’s all! I swear!” Zayn says and cautiously takes a step toward Niall. Niall mirrors it as he takes a step back.

Niall realizes that the art cemetery doesn’t hold the same significance between them as Niall thought. For Niall, the art cemetery is - _was _he thinks bitterly - his and Zayn’s safe haven. A place they could be alone when things outside became too much, a place of their _own_ ; it’s where they had their first real kiss, it’s where Niall found the painting of him, it’s where Zayn doesn’t take anywhere _but _Niall. Niall never mentioned this to Zayn, because he thought he fucking felt the same.____

____But apparently he’d been wrong, not when Zayn is taking a girl who’s obviously only in this school for him._ _ _ _

____“You’ve been spending _all_ day with her. I was calling your phone, why weren’t you taking it?” Niall asks annoyed and hurt. It is obvious why he wasn’t taking it._ _ _ _

____“I’m sorry, I think it was on silent,” Zayn murmurs and pulls out his phone, brows furrowed._ _ _ _

____Niall feels something unpleasant curl tight in his stomach. He crosses his arms tightly over his chest._ _ _ _

____“Oh, so you silenced your phone so no one could interrupt your precious time with _her_ ,” Niall sneers just the second Chanel decides to come out of the building. She looks wide-eyed at Niall before quickly looking away from his glare. Zayn glances nervously at her. The girl has enough brain to know it’s best to just leave and she hurries away. Zayn turns back to Niall with a sigh._ _ _ _

____“Niall, please stop this,” he says and reaches for Niall. Niall jerks away from his touch, ignoring Zayn’s hurt look._ _ _ _

____“No, I won’t stop Zayn. I’m going to be honest, I don’t like you spending time with her!” Niall says and he knows how that sound the second it comes out, though he doesn’t care at the moment._ _ _ _

____Zayn’s eyes harden at that._ _ _ _

____“What, now you’re going to control who I am spending time with?” He asks, voice incredulous._ _ _ _

____“That’s not-“ Zayn rudely cuts Niall off._ _ _ _

____“I don’t ever say anything about that guy you’re always hanging around,” Zayn says._ _ _ _

____Niall looks at him confused. “What? Who? _Hunter_?”_ _ _ _

____“Yes, him.” Zayn says sourly._ _ _ _

____“Oh my God, what are you even talking about?” Niall says, staring at Zayn. “He’s just helping me out with extra credit in math.” It’s true, Hunter has been very helpful since Niall returned to school, and not to mention, a great friend; and sometimes, Niall feels like he’s the only normal friend he’s got in this place._ _ _ _

____“Like you need that help,” Zayn scoffs. “You already get top grades in all your classes.”_ _ _ _

____“I fucking need it,” Niall snaps. “You don’t seem to realize that I have to work ten times harder than anyone else here. I didn’t grow up with a silver spoon up my ass.” Maybe that last part was uncalled for, but Niall is too angry to care._ _ _ _

____“And is that my fault now?” Zayn says with a frown._ _ _ _

____“God! The _point_ is that Hunter is just my _friend_!” Niall exclaims, exasperated._ _ _ _

____Zayn laughs; a short hallow laugh that Niall doesn’t like hearing one but._ _ _ _

____“Friend? hah, you’re more naïve than I thought,” Zayn says and the way he is saying it is a tad condescending. “Have you seen how that guy looks at you?”_ _ _ _

____Niall narrows his eyes._ _ _ _

____“I don’t know what you’re going on about.” He says stubbornly, even though he has a good idea._ _ _ _

____Zayn takes a step closer._ _ _ _

____“Then let me make it clear, he wants to get into your pants,” Zayn says and as if to emphasize, he curls his fingers into Niall’s belt loop and tugs Niall to him. “It’s so fucking obvious, you’d have to be blind not to see that he’s practically undressing you with his eyes,” Zayn says, he’s so close that his warmth breath, a big contrast to the harsh weather, spills across Niall’s lips. Niall immediately puts distance between them again._ _ _ _

____“No he doesn’t! he’s over it, it was just one kiss!” Niall splutters and then his eyes widen when he realizes that he’d slipped._ _ _ _

____Zayn’s eyes narrows dangerously._ _ _ _

____“ _What_?!”_ _ _ _

____Niall hurries to explain, even though he feels he own Zayn no explanation._ _ _ _

____“It was before we were together, okay? In fact, it happened when all my so called friends, you included, shunned me and turned the whole fucking school against me!” Niall knows that a part of him will never forgive for that episode, no matter how much he wishes he could put it behind him._ _ _ _

____Zayn blinks, looking guilty for a moment._ _ _ _

____“Do you have to bring that up? And if he kissed you once, then it’s surely going to happen again,” he says, voice suspicious. And the way he looks at Niall makes the unpleasant curl tighter inside of him, he fists his hand._ _ _ _

____“What exactly is it you’re implying here, Zayn?”_ _ _ _

____“What are _you_ implying?” Zayn counters._ _ _ _

____Suddenly Niall feels drained off energy. He really can’t do this anymore; he so fucking tired of fighting with Zayn. All he really wants is to curl up in bed with Zayn and a nice cup of hot chocolate; not fight with him outside in the biting cold. He hates that he is once again fighting with Zayn because of some new girl._ _ _ _

____“For fuck’s sake,” Niall mutters, running a hand through his hair and shakes his head. He looks at Zayn with softer eyes. “…I called you because I actually needed you, but where do I find you? Alone with her.”_ _ _ _

____“Christ, would you just let it go, already?” Zayn snaps. “Stop being so insecure and needy.”_ _ _ _

____A tense silence fall upon them and Zayn looks just as shocked by his own words as Niall feels; as if he wants to grab them before they solidify in the air and shove them back in his throat._ _ _ _

____It’s too late thought, because Niall’s jaw snaps tightly shut, eyes hard as stone._ _ _ _

____“Niall, baby-“_ _ _ _

____“Fuck this, Zayn and fuck you, you jerk.”_ _ _ _

____With that, Niall turns around and storms off._ _ _ _

____+  
In hindsight, Niall realizes that his behavior might be a bit of an overreaction and that there might be a possibility that he is indeed insecure in his relationship with Zayn. It might have something to do with the fact that his and Zayn’s worlds are too far apart for them to ever work out, only for this girl to come prancing in, being everything that Niall can’t or isn’t allowed to be_ _ _ _

____Not that he’s ready to admit any of that out loud, especially because Zayn’s words has hurt him more than even Louis’ word had._ _ _ _

_____Needy_ _ _ _ _

____Now that’s one thing Niall doesn’t agree with. If Zayn thinks he’s needy for wanting some comfort from him, then he’d rather not even do this whole relationship-thing with him. So for all Niall cares, Zayn and Chanel can go fuck themselves._ _ _ _

____Niall is still fuming the next morning and on top of that, he has a headache the size of his school work. He isn’t in the best of moods so he purposefully leaves before Zayn can knock at his door and instead of taking his usual seat next to Zayn, he steals Amanda’s chair next to Harry. Amanda doesn’t say much, just looks at him curiously and sits down somewhere else. Harry eyes him._ _ _ _

____“What’s wrong?” he asks after studying Niall silently for a moment, obscenely sucking his spoon clean of yoghurt._ _ _ _

____“Nothing,” Niall mutters grumpily, even though he knows he probably looks as shitty as he feels. Harry shrugs and returns to his breakfast. That’s one thing Niall likes about Harry, he never pushes. Niall gives his order and waits for his breakfast all the while trying not to bang his head against the table dramatically._ _ _ _

____He catches sight of Liam and Zayn entering the cafeteria along with a few other privilege house kids. Niall tenses and glues his eyes on his cheerios, stabbing his food into the soggy cereal almost violently. He hears the new arrivals settle down and feels the burn of Zayn’s eyes on him, and he can’t help a quick glance._ _ _ _

____He immediately feels annoyed by Zayn for looking so good this early in the freaking morning when everyone else looks half-asleep._ _ _ _

____“Good morning,” Zayn greets, voice cautious._ _ _ _

____Niall considers spilling his milk over his perfect hair. Instead, he ignores him completely and turns to have a conversation with Harry. Harry’s gaze ping-pongs between him and Zayn curiously._ _ _ _

____“Ohhh, trouble in paradise!” Harry sings so loudly that he gains pretty much everyone’s attention on the table._ _ _ _

____Niall takes everything back, Harry is a huge idiot. Harry lets out a nervous laugh when both Niall and Zayn glare at him. Liam surveys the situation with nervous eyes._ _ _ _

____The tension at their end of the table is palpable when Louis decides to grace them with his arrival. If his presence wasn’t bothering enough, Niall considers leaving the table all together when he sees who exactly is accompanying her._ _ _ _

____Chanel._ _ _ _

____What the fuck._ _ _ _

____Zayn looks just as surprised as Niall. Louis is having an innocent smile on his lips that looks all kind of wrong and gives Niall a rather dreadful gut-feeling. He almost feels bad for how nervous Chanel looks, _almost_._ _ _ _

____“Chanel, what are you-“ Zayn begins but is interrupted by Louis._ _ _ _

____“I invited Chanel to sit with us, a friend of Zayn’s is a friend of mine,” Louis says and pushes a chair out for her. Chanel doesn’t meet anyone’s eyes as she gracefully sits down. She looks perfect; her shiny dark hair falls over his face in waves and whereas the majority of students who comes in has ruddy cheeks and red noses from the cold outside, her dark skin is smooth and flawless._ _ _ _

____Zayn stares at Louis, hell, Niall stares at Louis, both of them trying to figure out what exactly he thinks he’s doing, because they both know he doesn’t give a crap about Chanel. Louis meets Zayn’s gaze across the table and Niall shifts nervously at the sudden tension there. Zayn narrows his eyes a bit and Louis merely smiles before turning to Chanel and striking up a conversation with her._ _ _ _

____Zayn looks bothered and he turns to Liam, and all Liam offers is a confused look and a shrug. Then Zayn looks at Niall and Niall looks back with a blank gaze. He has a feeling that Zayn is expecting him to explode any minute, but damn him if he gives him, Chanel or Louis that satisfaction._ _ _ _

____He turns to his breakfast and robotically begins to eat his breakfast._ _ _ _

____Louis makes a show of conversing with Chanel and the longer he goes on, the more is it apparent that he’s doing this to piss Niall off._ _ _ _

____The worst part?_ _ _ _

____It’s working, because Niall’s morning is officially ruined._ _ _ _

____(more than it already was)_ _ _ _

____+_ _ _ _

____Out of the four boys, Niall thinks Liam might be the most normal. He isn’t a constantly horny idiot like Harry, he isn’t a jerk like Zayn and he certainly isn’t a narcisstic, power-monger like Louis._ _ _ _

____Liam is sweet._ _ _ _

____Sweet like the croissant Niall is currently eating while blubbering all his problems to Liam in the very empty common room of Privilege House, and Liam who should by all means just slap him and tell him to get his shit together, doesn’t say anything, just listens and nods at the appropriate places. Niall is close to crying when he’s done._ _ _ _

____“It’s just, how can he call me that? How can he call me needy?” Niall sniffles and Liam hands a napkin and Niall angrily rubs away the tear that manages to escape. “I’ll never feel like I can go to him whenever I need to again. it’s sucks. And I hate Chanel. I fucking hate her. And why is Louis doing this? I never did anything to him. Did he ask me to come back just to be mean? Why is my life always so fucked up? Can’t I just live a normal, boring drama-free life? That’s all I’m asking. Is that too much? I don’t think so.”_ _ _ _

____Niall finishes his latest rant with another frustrating set of fresh tears which he rubs away until his eyes are bloodshot. Liam puts a warm hand on his shoulder, studying him with big, concerned eyes. Then he opens his arms invitingly and Niall more than willingly shuffles into his warm embrace, finding some comfort in Liam’s gentle back-rubbing._ _ _ _

____“I think Zayn is just a little excited that he’s found someone who likes art as much as he does,” Liam says when Niall has gathered himself. “Art is everything to Zayn and it seems Chanel shares his passion, but that doesn’t change that Zayn loves you, Niall.”_ _ _ _

____“I don’t think he loves me,” Niall mutters and plays with the strings of his sweatpants, feeling a bit pathetic_ _ _ _

____“Oh, he does, and I know how? He told me,” Liam smiles when Niall looks at him wide-eyed. “He told me you’re the best thing that’s happened to him and I’ve been friends with Zayn for a while and he’s never been crazy about someone like he’s with you,” Liam continues and Niall listens, interested. “So don’t worry about Chanel, alright?”_ _ _ _

____But, what if Liam is wrong? A little annoying voice inside Niall’s head says. Niall just nods mutely._ _ _ _

____“And Louis, I admit he’s acting rather strange and being who he is, that’s saying something,” Liam says with a frown. “I mean, did something happen between you two in the break when he went to your house?”_ _ _ _

____Niall tenses, of course Liam notices, his eyes going a bit wide._ _ _ _

____“Niall?” he asks nervously and Niall does everything in his might to avoid Liam’s prodding gaze. “Don’t tell me that-“_ _ _ _

____“We kissed.”_ _ _ _

____Niall feels just as shocked by the sudden confession as the priceless expression on Liam’s face._ _ _ _

____“You…excuse me- _what_?” Liam blurts, blinking rapidly as if he isn’t sure he heard him right. Niall takes a shaky inhale of breath and buries his face in his hands._ _ _ _

____“I don’t know how it happened, it’s just kind of did and then he told me we should just forget it ever happened, yet as soon as we come back he’s acting like I did something wrong! The worst part is that I actually _liked_ it-wait, you aren’t going to tell Zayn any of this are you? Oh God Liam, please don’t do that, it didn’t mean anything and I wouldn’t-“_ _ _ _

____“I’m not going to, don’t worry!” Liam cuts through what would’ve turned out to be a rather long rant and Niall heaves in a shaky breath, and he’s suddenly weighed heavily with guilt._ _ _ _

____“I’m such a hypocrite,” he whispers, digging his blunt fingernails into his forearm, barely registering the pain. “How can I expect for Zayn to be faithful when I’m no better? I know we weren’t technically together but still… Oh God.”_ _ _ _

____“Hey, don’t beat yourself up.” Liam says, patting Niall’s shoulder. “Though it still doesn’t explain why Louis is acting like he is.”_ _ _ _

____Niall shakes his head, biting down his lip and before he can say anything, they hear the entrance doors open and a wave of laughter and chatter ring through the foyer. Niall quickly assembles himself, drying his moist cheeks and tries to look a bit presentable._ _ _ _

____Of course it’s his luck when Zayn, Harry, Louis and a few other girls joins them in the common room. Niall focuses on his nails, trying to avoid eye-contact. He feels eyes burn into him, one is doubtlessly Zayn’s, but it’s not those who freak him out the most, it’s the scrutinizing gaze from Louis that is. Liam squeezes his arm in comfort._ _ _ _

____The new arrivals begin to make themselves comfortable at the cushions and chairs, someone turns on the TV and zaps through the different channels. Danielle comes and steals Liam away, leaving Niall feeling rather vulnerable._ _ _ _

____Somewhere close to him, the girls begin to gush about Valentine’s Day that’s a little over a week away. Niall feels a clench in his chest and he automatically looks up at Zayn. Zayn is already looking at him and he must notice Niall’s puffy eyes, because he frowns, eyes worried._ _ _ _

____“Ahh, Valentine’s Day, such a romantic day,” Harry drawls lazily. He has draped his long body all the way across the couch, head resting in Louis’ lap._ _ _ _

____Zayn looks at him, amused. “O’ really? Your definition of Valentine’s Day is how many times you and Louis can fuck each other in a row.”_ _ _ _

____The whole room burst out in laughter. Harry and Louis don’t look ashamed or embarrassed in the least, on the contrary, they look quite satisfied with themselves, smiling all smugly at each other._ _ _ _

____Niall suddenly feels sick to his stomach, and he quickly gets to his feet and leaves. He’s in the elevator when Zayn catches up just before the doors close, slipping in inside._ _ _ _

____Niall stares at his feet and Zayn stares at him. An awkward silence ensues._ _ _ _

____They reach their floor and Niall hurries out. Zayn follows him and Niall lets him, not having the energy for much else._ _ _ _

____“Niall, can we talk?” Zayn asks, sounding a bit wary._ _ _ _

____Niall ungracefully drops onto his bed and lets out a deep sigh, “do we have to do this now?” he mumbles tiredly. He wants to be left alone and curl up in bed, but he also wants Zayn to hold him and tell him he loves him._ _ _ _

____“Yes, now.” Zayn kneels before him, putting his hand on his thigh and looks up at him._ _ _ _

____“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said what I did,” Zayn says after moment of studying Niall. “I didn’t mean any of it; it was a heat in the moment kind of thing. I know it’s no excuse, but I don’t think you’re insecure or needy at all. It was such a stupid and insensitive thing to say. I can’t say how much I regret it, please, can you forgive me?”_ _ _ _

____Niall stares blankly down at him. Zayn worries his lip._ _ _ _

____“Niall?” He parts his thigh and scurries between them; Niall does nothing to stop him. “I won’t hang out with Chanel if you don’t like it. I just need you to be patient with me until I finish my art project with her, it’s important for my final grade.”_ _ _ _

____Niall shakes his head quickly._ _ _ _

____“No, no, I don’t want you to stop hanging out with her because of me, you obviously enjoy her company,” Niall hates that his voice cracks a little. “You should be able to spend time with whoever you want to. I should trust you.”_ _ _ _

____Zayn smiles softly up at him._ _ _ _

____“I love spending time with you more though,” He says. “And I don’t want to do anything that makes you unhappy.”_ _ _ _

____“No, it’s fine,” Niall manages a smile. “I’m sorry too. I overreacted and made a problem where there’s none. I trust you.”_ _ _ _

____“I’m happy,” Zayn playfully nuzzles his belly. “Am I forgiven?”_ _ _ _

____“Yeah, I guess so,” Niall says._ _ _ _

____Zayn beams up at him. “Good, because I’ve been dying to do this.”_ _ _ _

____He then gets up and kisses Niall gently on the lips. Niall sighs contently into it._ _ _ _

____Niall smiles when Zayn pulls him into a hug; a hug he’d needed since last night and Niall clings tightly to him, never wanting to let him go._ _ _ _

____+_ _ _ _

____There follows a few days where Louis acts normal, where he isn’t a prick toward Niall, and Niall is more grateful; especially now that he’s decided to give Zayn his trust, he feels like his life might be good again._ _ _ _

____It’s Saturday and they’re playing an important lacrosse game; the last of the season. Prescott’s lacrosse team is pretty damn good, but their competition is tough today. They’re locked in a tie at the moment and there’s not much time left._ _ _ _

____Niall steals the ball and races down the field; he throws a quick glance at the screen, there’s no more than 10 seconds left. He dodges a tackle from a big player, he’s not far from the goal now. he can score, but then he catches Louis out of his peripheral vision. He’s free. making a quick decision, Niall throws the lacrosse ball to Louis who catches it and with an impressively fast throw - the ball barely touches his net before he’s sending it flying and the goal-keeper has no chance._ _ _ _

____Louis scores and the whistle is blow, indicating the end of the game. They won._ _ _ _

____“Yes!” Niall jumps into the air, grinning. He instinctively runs to Louis and Louis smirks at him, high-fiving him; he knows what Niall did for him, letting him score his last goal as a senior. “Nice goal!” Niall laughs and throws an arm around Louis’ neck, hugging him. “Nice deliver,” Louis says and pats Niall’s back. Niall pulls a little away to look at Louis and his breath catches at how close Louis’ blue eyes are; his heart picking up speed. There’s something in Louis’ eyes, but before Niall can read into it, they’re being tackled to the ground by their teammates._ _ _ _

____+_ _ _ _

____Things get rather awkward in the locker room. Niall has never had this problem before, but then again, he’s never felt weird around Louis and he’s never almost bumped into him, both of them naked, safe the towels around their waists._ _ _ _

____Louis is dripping wet and so, so, so close; and why aren’t any of them moving? Niall just can’t, because Louis looks so hot, all wet like that. Niall’s eyes follows a water droplet as it slides down Louis’ slightly stubbled jaw and crept down his neck, Niall’s eyes are hungry as they follow the droplet down his lean chest, all the way down until it slips under the toilet that’s hanging dangerously low on his hipbone._ _ _ _

____And then he snaps back to reality._ _ _ _

____Niall blushes madly and his eyes snapping back to Louis’ face and they widen in horror when he sees the smug, all-knowing look on Louis’ face and that smirk on his lips._ _ _ _

____Niall nearly trips at the hurry he is in from getting away._ _ _ _

____Once safely inside the shower, he turns on the water and leads the icy-cold water cascade over him._ _ _ _

____He’s so fucked._ _ _ _

____+_ _ _ _

____Louis acts like nothing has happened, because that what’s he do best. Niall is just glad that the match was a home-match, thus he is fortunate enough not to get caught in an hours-long bus drive with Louis._ _ _ _

____They’re on their way back to their dorm. Louis is talking. About what, Niall isn’t sure. He isn’t listening; his thoughts are elsewhere; racing miles per second. In the end, he just blurts it out._ _ _ _

____“Why did you invite Chanel to our table?”_ _ _ _

____Louis’ halts in whatever he was talking about. He looks at Niall._ _ _ _

____“Because I like her,” he says with a careless shrug._ _ _ _

____Lie. He’s fucking lying, but Niall doesn’t say that._ _ _ _

____“You don’t like her much, huh,” Louis says amused._ _ _ _

____Niall frowns._ _ _ _

____“Not really,” he mutters. “I wish she never came,” he sighs. Sometimes he wishes he could deal with his problems like Louis; without moral. He wishes he could just boot her off school._ _ _ _

____“You want to boot her off school?”_ _ _ _

____Niall’s eyes widen when he realizes he’s said the last part out loud._ _ _ _

____“Would solve one of my problems,” he jokes. “If she just disappeared, it would be one problem less.”_ _ _ _

____“I wouldn’t let you,” Louis suddenly says, voice sharp. “I like her.”_ _ _ _

____Niall stares at him, surprised and disbelieving._ _ _ _

____“You do realize I was just joking, right?” He says._ _ _ _

____“I don’t think you were,” Louis stops up and Niall do as well. Louis eyes him. “I think you simply don’t trust Zayn. I think you’re afraid he might leave you for her. And guess what, it might just be a real possibility. Keep a closer eye on him.”_ _ _ _

____Niall stares open-mouthed at Louis. Something inside of him snaps._ _ _ _

____“Why are you being so mean?” He asks. “What did I ever do to you?”_ _ _ _

____“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Louis says dismissively and continues walking. Niall goes after him. “Yes, you do! You’re being a fucking prick, Louis!” he splutters, angers, hot and white coursing through him. “You like her just to piss me off!”_ _ _ _

____“Don’t flatter yourself now, I have better things to do,” Louis says coldly. Niall bites down his lip._ _ _ _

____“Is this why you brought me back? So you could have someone to tear down,” Niall says. “You’re a fucking asshole, Louis. I hate you.”_ _ _ _

____He doesn’t give Louis a chance to retaliate and storms off._ _ _ _

____+_ _ _ _

____Niall has calmed a little down and Harry has just joined him in his room. Harry might be an idiot sometimes, and he might be sleeping with Louis, but he’s a good distraction._ _ _ _

____Zayn comes to his room and Niall brightens up._ _ _ _

____“Zayn,” he says and gets off his bed, walking over to give him a hug. His heart drops when he feels that Zayn’s hug is a little reserved. He pulls away and looks at Zayn. He is frowning at him._ _ _ _

____“We need to talk,” he says, voice serious._ _ _ _

____That doesn’t sound good._ _ _ _

____“Uh, okay?” Niall says nervously._ _ _ _

____“Alone,” Zayn says and looks pointedly at Harry, who is bobbing his head to a song. Harry’s eyes widen a little._ _ _ _

____“Oh, I’ll just leave,” he says and hurries out._ _ _ _

____“Zayn, what’s wrong?” Niall asks as soon as Harry is out of the door._ _ _ _

____“I heard you want to get Chanel thrown out of school,” Zayn’s eyes are hard._ _ _ _

____It takes a moment longer for Niall to comprehend what he just said._ _ _ _

____“What?!” He exclaims in disbelief._ _ _ _

____“I thought you said you trusted me!” Zayn says. “Why would you get an innocent girl booted off school!?”_ _ _ _

____Louis. Louis fucking Tomlinson. He is set to make Niall’s life a living hell._ _ _ _

____“Wait just a fucking minute! I didn’t say that! well, I did! but it was a joke!” Niall shouts. “I didn’t mean it! And don’t fucking start with me, you’ve booted God knows how many innocent people out of school.” Niall says, jabbing a finger into Zayn’s chest._ _ _ _

____“You’re not like that! You’re supposed to be _different_!” Zayn exclaims, brushing away Niall’s finger._ _ _ _

____“Fuck you! This is _your_ world, I am just trying to fit in!”_ _ _ _

____Zayn stares at him like he doesn’t know who he is._ _ _ _

____“When did you become like this?” The way he says it feels like a slap to Niall’s face._ _ _ _

____“When did you become like _that_!” Niall counters. “You should know me better than what someone tells you! Fuck! You’re supposed to love me! Get the fuck out of my room, Zayn!_ _ _ _

____“I do fucking love you! That’s the problem!”_ _ _ _

____“Problem? _Problem_!? Loving me is a fucking problem now!?”_ _ _ _

____They’re outright yelling at each other now._ _ _ _

____Zayn lets out a frustrated huff._ _ _ _

____“That’s now what I meant! Stop twisting my words!”_ _ _ _

____“I don’t even want to know what you meant! Get the fuck out of my room!” Niall shoves Zayn out of the door. Zayn’s mouth flaps open in protest, but before he can say something Niall slams the door in his face._ _ _ _

____Niall stalks over and throws himself on his bed. He buries his face in his pillow and screams in anger and frustration. He can’t believe it. He can’t fucking believe it._ _ _ _

____Why would Louis do this?_ _ _ _

_____Louis_ _ _ _ _

____Niall gets off his bed. He’s seeing red and his body is shaking with an adrenaline rush. He might as well use it for something._ _ _ _

____+_ _ _ _

____“We need to talk,” Niall says when he finds Louis in the parlor of the room, nursing a glass of wine; Harry and a few other guys in his company. Louis looks up at him, eyes bored._ _ _ _

____“I don’t want to,” He says and sounds like a petulant kid._ _ _ _

____“Well, you don’t got a fucking choice,” Niall sneers. He snaps the wine glass out of his hand and grabs his wrist, forcefully tugging him along. Louis does little to no resistance. They leave worried and curious murmurs in their wake._ _ _ _

____Niall drags Louis outside and around the building where there are no eavesdroppers._ _ _ _

____“What do you want now,” Louis huffs and pulls his wrist out of Niall’s death grip. It’s cold outside and Louis shivers in his sweater. Niall doesn’t care._ _ _ _

____“What the actual fuck!” Niall sneers._ _ _ _

____“What?” Louis says, narrowing his eyes at him. He even has the nerve to play dumb._ _ _ _

____“Why did you tell Zayn I wanted to get Chanel thrown out? You know I didn’t mean it!” Niall says._ _ _ _

____Louis rolls his eyes and shakes his head, like Niall is spewing nonsense._ _ _ _

____“Oh God, don’t pull me into your soap opera of a relationship,” he says. “Your drama is getting boring.”_ _ _ _

____Niall feels like he might explode._ _ _ _

____“What do you want from me, Louis! What the fuck do you want?” he shouts. He doesn’t care who might hear._ _ _ _

____Louis eyes him, up and down, in that way that makes Niall feel very much worthless._ _ _ _

____“You really don’t have anything to offer, blondie,” he says._ _ _ _

____“I know you told Zayn that lie and I know why you did it,” Niall says, ignoring the ache in his chest._ _ _ _

____Louis tilts his face to the side._ _ _ _

____“O’really?” he says, mockingly._ _ _ _

____Niall steps really close to Louis with his next words, and he’s very satisfied that Louis isn’t as taller than him as he was in the fall._ _ _ _

____“You’re doing it because you get off on ruining people’s life,” Niall says, voice icy. “You simply can’t help yourself, you’re fucking evil. Spawn of Satan. I hate you. I never did anything but try to be friends with you. But you’re being an asshole!”_ _ _ _

____Niall shoves Louis then, but Louis grabs his arm tightly and spins them around, slamming Niall against the cold wall. Niall snaps after the air knocked out of his lungs. Louis’ eyes are blazing. Niall gulps._ _ _ _

____“Don’t fucking shove me.” He sneers into his face, his breath hitting Niall in hot puffs, smelling of expensive wine._ _ _ _

____Niall is scared._ _ _ _

____“Listen here, Niall,” He says, not letting go of Niall. “You might think that you’re better than me, but you aren’t. You’re just as immoral and fucked up as everyone else here. Don’t you even dare to think otherwise.” A whimper escapes Niall when Louis hand closes tighter around Niall’s collar. “That pretty face of yours might make people fall head over heels to please you, but guess what, karma is a bitch and no matter how pretty you’re, it’s going to fucking bite you in your pretty little butt. And what’s happening now, that’s karma,” Louis continues and Niall feels the burn of his words; in his throat, in his chest, in his eyes. Louis brings his face inches from his with his next words.“And one more thing, if I wanted to ruin your life, I wouldn’t go through any trouble, I’d fucking destroy you with a _finger snap_.”_ _ _ _

____Much to Niall’s frustration, a tear slides down his cheek. Louis catches the tear with his thumb and dries it away. He smiles wryly at Niall._ _ _ _

____“Look at that, you even look pretty crying,” He says in a hushed voice that makes a shiver run down Niall’s spine; Niall can’t even determine whether it’s a good shiver or bad. Louis’ thumb trails down his cheeks, outline his jaw before it catches the corner of his mouth. Louis’ gaze flickers down to his lips and for a moment, Niall could swear that he was going to kiss him, instead he finds Louis’ lips pressing against his ear._ _ _ _

____“And one last thing; do you really think you are the first our favorite Prince has cheated with?”_ _ _ _

____Niall's heart stops beating for a moment, breatch catching in his breath, "no, he whispers. Louis pulls away from him and Niall stares at him, eyes wide in shock._ _ _ _

____“You’re lying.” Niall whispers, voice shaking a bit. Louis _must_ be lying, he's just saying this to mess with him._ _ _ _

____Louis looks at him for a moment, “are you sure?” he says quietly, eerily, before he turns around and walks away._ _ _ _

____Niall slides down the cold brick wall until he sitting flat on his ass on the unforgiving dirty concrete as he lets the tears have free fall._ _ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> too much drama, i'm sorry. next chapter will be a bit lighter. hopefully :D x


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

There’s a fine line between love and hate, they say, and Niall doesn’t know anything that relates more to his current situation with Louis. It had always been a love-hate thing between him and Louis from the get-go, but before now, niall had never felt himself tiptoe that line so dangerously close to tipping directly into hate.

Since this new semester started, Louis hasn’t wasted time quickly establishing that he apparently hates Niall guts for whatever twisted reason his brain has conjured up. Niall just wishes that he had some kind of faint idea of why Louis is acting the way he is, considering how close they’d been back in his hometown, and while Niall has a feeling it has something to do which just how close they were back in Crystalmont, he doesn’t quite understand it.

For starters, Louis had been the one to kiss _him_ , not the other way around and Louis had been the one to say they’d pretend it never happened, so why is treating Niall like the dirt under his shoe? And why is trying so hard to ruin everything between him and Zayn? 

Niall’s fingers tightens around the pencil in his hand as he remembers Louis’ words about Zayn cheating before he met Niall and the possibility that it might be true, makes Niall’s stomach shrink into a tight, uncomfortably knot.

It had made Niall come to the realization that he might be so insecure in his relationship with Zayn, because Zayn cheated on Perrie to be with him so what exactly is keeping him from doing the same to him to be with Chanel? And if he believes in Karma and in Louis words, then the possibility of that happening is very high.

Speaking of the school’s Prince, Niall has done a marvelous job of avoiding him and maybe it had been a little too easy, because Zayn hadn’t exactly gone out of his way to talk to him either. Their relationship has been swinging between luke-warm and cold the last couple of days and Niall doesn’t know what to say or do with himself.

Suddenly a hand slams down on his table, nearly startling the living daylight out of him and he lets out a squeak as he jumps in his seat, his wide gaze snapping up to meet Stacy’s irritated dark eyes.

“Horan,” she says slowly, dangerously, tapping her finger against the table. “I would really appreciate it if you’d snap out of your daydream and pay _attention_.” 

Niall blinks rapidly and as his gaze flickers around, he nervously notices that the entirety of the room seems to be staring at him with unkind, judgmental eyes. At the unwanted attention, he feels the delicate skin of his cheeks flush and he straightens up a bit, turning his gaze back on Stacy.

“Uh, eh- sorry,” he stutters, shooting the whiteboard where Stacy’s curvy handwriting is filling, trying to comprehend what they’d been talking about. “I just have a lot on my mind.”

“Do I look like I care?” Stacy asks dryly, “I need you to be 100% attentive here, leave whatever personal drama at the door, please.” She says sternly before turning on her heels and walking back up to the front.

Niall suppresses a sigh as he slumps a little further in his chair, staring unseeingly to the front as he tries - and fails - to pay attention to whatever Stacy is talking about.

+

 

Valentine ’s Day falls on a Wednesday. It’s Tuesday evening and Niall still hasn’t made up with Zayn. He’s doing what he does best, busying himself with his school-work, trying to balance that and the shit-load of work Stacy gave him to do as punishment for not listening; damn, that girl reminds Niall too much of Louis, no wonder they used to be best friends.

Currently, he’s trying to finish the Physics report, the report is first due in a week’s time, but Niall doesn’t know what else to do to distract himself. Harry, who is supposed to help him, is sitting across from him and is completely and utterly useless. Niall has given up on trying to get him to somewhat help and has left him to watch a movie on his iPad. 

He can’t really concentrate though, because a group of girls a couple of tables away are gushing about all their romantic ideas for Valentine’s, most of them including trips out of school; he even heard someone saying something about Paris (seriously?). It just makes his heart feel impossibly heavy.

Niall heaves a deep sigh.

Harry looks up at him. He taps a finger against the screen before taking the earbud out.

“What now? You’ve been sighing for the last 15 minutes,” Harry points out unnecessarily. “It’s getting pretty distractive.”

Niall glares at him.

“Distractive from watching a movie? You should be helping me,” Niall says grumpily. He shoves his laptop toward him. “Here, do your part.” Harry blinks slowly at the screen. “I have no idea what you’ve written.”

Niall groans and takes the laptop back, closing it and gathering his books, unceremoniously shoving all of his things into his bag. Then he slams his head against the table - admittedly harder than he’d meant to - and groans while pulling at his hair.

He can feel Harry eyeing him, but he doesn’t care. He hates everyone. He hates himself. He hates his life. And he hates this school.. He feels like his world is slipping through his fingers. He knows that life in this school isn’t going to be easy with Louis being so cruel to him. Niall is beginning to think that Louis never really forgave him for sleeping with Harry; that’d explain his talk about karma. Niall’s stomach churns. 

“Niniiiii,” Harry is suddenly whining in his ear and Niall is so close to slapping him; and he is so not going to let him call him NiNi, it just sounds so awful.

“ _What?_ ” he snaps.

“Look what I’ve got for you,” Harry sings, and Niall lifts his face annoyed. He so didn’t expect to see Harry standing next to him, holding out a long-stemmed red rose in his hand. Niall stares at it blankly for one long moment, before looking at Harry. Harry is grinning stupidly at him.

“What’s that?” He asks flatly, not in the mood for Harry’s antics.

“A rose for you, obviously,” Harry says in a matter-of-fact voice.

“Why are you giving it to me?” Niall asks eyes narrowed suspiciously.

“Because I love you,” Harry says in such a sweet tone and with the cutest smile he has yet given Niall, and really, Niall’s heart doesn’t stand a chance, it melts in an instant. 

“Awww,” Niall coos, accepting the rose and making a show of sniffing to it. He smiles softly at Harry, “thanks you oaf, I love you too.”

Harry grins widely, infamous dimples denting his cheeks and he bents over, wrapping Niall in his long arms in a bit of an awkward hug, considering Niall is sitting and Harry is standing. Niall doesn’t care though, because suddenly, he doesn’t feel as negative about the world; who knew he needed a Harry hug before now.

“Yay, we love each other,” Harry sings, planting a wet kiss on Niall’s cheek. Niall can’t help but laugh, all the negativity pushed away for the moment. He wraps his arm around Harry’s back. “Yeah, I guess we do.”

But of course Harry just _has_ to ruin the warmth of the moment.

“Can we fuck now?” He asks with wide-eyed innocence. Niall’s glare is enough to make Harry shrink. “Just kidding! I swear!” Harry laughs nervously.

“I’m beginning to think you have a sex-addiction, Jesus Christ,” Niall says and pushes Harry away.

“I do not! I just like sex, and that’s completely healthy and normal,” Harry says with a careless shrug. “But hey, about Louis?” Harry suddenly says turning serious for the first time. Niall tenses a little. “I know he’s being an asshole. I’ll talk to him, don’t worry about it.”

Niall shakes his head.

“No, it’s alright, I can handle it.”

Harry shoots him a skeptical look.

Niall frowns.

“I _can_. it’s a problem between me and him, I don’t want you to get involved,” Niall says. “I can take care of myself.”

“Of course you can,” Harry smiles and ruffles up in his hair. “Let’s get out of here, shall we?”

“Sure,” Niall says and grabs his book bag. He knows he isn’t going to get any more work done anyway.

+

Niall is wondering whether he and Zayn are even going to spend Valentine’s Day together, wondering if maybe Zayn got tired of his bullshit already; wouldn’t surprise him too much, sadly enough.

It’s thoughts like these that are running through his mind when he walks into his room. The first thing he notices is Conrad’s absence, the next thing is the lovely, flowery scent hanging in the air, the next thing is the large bouquet of red and white roses on his bed. Niall stills just inside the room, his mouth hanging open, eyes wide. He feels a giddy, bubbly feeling inside of him when he catches sight of the white card sticking out in between the roses.

He walks over slowly, afraid that it all might just be an hallucination. But when he steps up to his bed, the roses and the card are still there. He bites down his lip to hold down the smile threatening to take over as he delicately places Harry’s rose on the nightstand, before he takes the bouquet and takes a deep inhale. The sweet scent fills his nose and he smiles. He takes the card.

His heart beats faster when he notices Zayn’s fine, curvy hand-writing. It says one single word.

_Art Cemetery.  
_

+

 

Niall loosens his scarf as he steps into the building of the Art Cemetery, he sees the light seeping out from under the door, and he smiles. He looks down at the wrapped present in his hand; a present he wrapped for Zayn the day before their fight; he hides it behind his back and walks over, opening the door. 

He stills just inside, looking around with wide eyes, not expecting what meets him at all.

Niall gapes.

The Art Cemetery usually looks a bit bad for wear, but it’s obviously been cleaned; the paintings that usual litters around everywhere are organized nicely against one wall. There’s what seems like hundreds of candlelight standing and glowing warmly on every available flat surface; giving the room a cozy feeling. The small table that’s usually covered with papers, cups and other stuff is now holding candlelight, flowers in vases and what looks like a nice dinner.

Zayn was in the middle of putting some paintings away when Niall entered and he looks up now, smiling warmly when he sees Niall. 

Their eyes meet and they don’t need words.

Niall moves forward and Zayn meets him in the middle, their lips meeting in hot, passionate kiss. Niall drops his gift to Zayn on the floor in favor of putting both his hands in Zayn’s hair. Zayn releases him from the kiss and looks down at the gift. He grins.

“You got me something,” he says. “I got you something too.”

“Don’t care right now,” Niall breathes before pressing his mouth back against Zayn’s. “I’m sorry,” Zayn pants against his mouth just before Niall’s tongue slides into his mouth, pressing into the roof of his mouth before going back down to engage in a heated wrestle with Zayn’s tongue. “I’m sorry too,” Niall mutters. Zayn’s fingers hastily tugs down Niall’s scarf, letting it fall to the floor before they begin working on his coat, sliding it off Niall’s shoulder. “We were being stupid,” Zayn says, biting the skin just under Niall’s jaw. Niall swallows. “Yeah,” he says, rutting up Zayn’s jumper, feeling the warm skin under his icy fingers; Zayn shivers against him.

They don’t say more, just use their bodies to talk. Zayn begins to back away, holding an arm tightly around Niall’s waist, giving Niall no chance but following. Zayn falls onto the couch and Niall falls on top of him. Zayn’s hands find their way to Niall’s ass, grabbing him there and pressing Niall closer to him. Niall moans into Zayn’s mouth and desperately ruts down on him, trying to relish some of the tension there. He can feel Zayn is rock hard against his thigh and Zayn jerks up his hip, grinding against Niall’s thigh; searching for some kind of friction. Niall feels like he’s burning up, so he sits up, breaking the kiss and receiving a displeased sound from Zayn, but that quickly turns into a silent, adoring stare when Niall takes off his shirt. Niall smirks down at Zayn and tugs at his shirt, indicating for him to take it off as well. Zayn obliges and then they’re pressing together, naked skin against naked skin and it’s so fucking wonderful and Niall bites marks into Zayn tanned skin, making sure that most of them are visible; Zayn is his and everyone else better know so.

The grinding and humping becomes frustrating and highly unsatisfying so Zayn flips them around, making a quick work of Niall’s jeans and tugging them down; his boxers follows right after and Niall is lying completely naked under Zayn. Niall is never going to get used to the way Zayn looks at him; it’s just too overwhelming. Zayn’s eyes are completely black as they rake over Niall. 

“God, I love you,” Zayn groans before surging down and claiming Niall’s lips in a dirty kiss. Niall gasps when Zayn gets a hand around him, pumping him a few times and running him thumb over the head. “ _Zayn_ ,” Niall begs and Zayn has never been a big tease, so he quickly obliges, getting off Niall and coming back the next second with lube and a condom; Niall can’t help but smirk, he’d so planned this. 

Niall watches dazed as he drizzles it over his fingers, Zayn catches Niall’s eyes and sends him a sinful look that has Niall afraid he might come untouched.

Zayn leans down to kiss him as he pushes a finger into Niall and Niall pants, writhing a little under him. By the time Zayn has three fingers in him, Niall is a wreck, moaning and moving down on Zayn’s fingers, desperately craving more.

Zayn gives him that more. Niall watches, eyes hungry as Zayn rolls on the plastic and slicks it up with lube.

He throws Niall’s leg over his shoulder and presses a kiss against Niall’s mouth, slowly pushing into him. Niall takes in small breaths, clenching his eyes shot as the familiar painful, burning stretch mixed with the overwhelming feeling of being filled envelops him. He digs his fingernails into Zayn’s shoulder until Zayn’s buried to the hilt. 

Zayn’s forehead falls against Niall’s and he peers into his eyes. “Alright?” he pants, and Niall nods. “Alright.” Zayn then begins to move in steady, slow thrusts that slowly build up to deeper, faster thrust until Niall is a complete mess under him, moaning his name and begging for more. that little more comes in the form of Zayn hitting that spot deep inside of him that makes Niall let out a string of intelligible words. Zayn grunts above him, shifting so he has a better angle. The only sounds in the room is skin slapping against skin, Zayn and Niall panting harshly into each other’s mouth. They continue to move against each other until Niall feels the familiar tension coil tightly in his belly.

“Z-Zayn, so close, so close,” Niall says breathlessly. Zayn sneak a hand between their bodies and gets a hand around Niall, giving a few strong strokes and that’s what tips Niall over. He comes with a muffled cry against Zayn’s shoulder. Zayn fucks him through it, until his thrust turns shallow and then he’s following Niall into release. They collapse against each other, sweaty and dirty.

Zayn affectionately brushes Niall’s sweaty bangs away from his face and kisses the tip of his nose.

“Let’s never fight again,” he says. 

Niall smiles.

“Deal.”

+

Once Zayn and Niall are done making love for a second time, they finally go to the table to eat what Zayn prepared for them; they quickly give up on that, because the food has long ago gotten cold, and even though they’re starving, they’re reluctant to leave just yet, so they end up cuddling on the couch.

“I wanted to ask you something,” Zayn says then, playing with Niall’s hair. Niall hums in reply, peering up at Zayn from where he’s head is resting against Zayn’s chest. “Do you want to spend this weekend out of school?”

Niall looks curiously at Zayn.

“Where?” He asks.

“My uncle owns this small lake-house just out of town,” Zayn says and links their hands. “I thought it’d be great to spend a couple of days there, just the two of us, away from all of this.”

Niall’s heart swells. A whole week with only him and Zayn. Away from Chanel. Away from Louis. That sounds perfect.

“Yeah,” Niall says, smiling happily. “I’d love to.”

“Great,” Zayn smiles and leans down, capturing Niall’s lips in a sweet kiss.

+

The morning of Saturday, Niall is standing in the foyer, his packed duffel bag by his feet as he waits for Zayn to come down. The elevator gives a ‘pling’ as it doors open. Niall smiles but the smile quickly disappears when he sees it isn’t Zayn.

It’s Louis.

Louis is busy texting on his phone so he doesn’t see him at first. He’s a few feet from him when he notices him. He stops up and looks at him. And Niall hates him, especially because he is so unfairly gorgeous; his hair is a little more messy than usual, he’s wearing tight chinos and a cashmere sweater.

Louis’ eyes flickers to the bag at Niall’s feet. When he looks back at Niall. His eyes are a little narrowed.

“Where are you going?” He asks or more like demands to know. Niall would like to know what he might be assuming. That he’s leaving? So he can do what? Throw a party?

Niall suddenly feels annoyed.

“None of your business.” The snarky replies leaves his mouth before he can stop himself. However, he’s satisfied with the baffled look on Louis’ face. Louis quickly recovers though. Niall steps back when his blue eyes cloud over. He glances at the elevator. Where is Zayn when you need him?

“Oh, look who’s getting an attitude,” Louis says, eyeing Niall in that demeaning manner. He slowly advances on Niall. All Niall really wants is to back away, but he won’t give Louis that satisfaction. He stands his ground, even when Louis is almost nose to nose to him.

“What, did Zayn propose to you and make you a princess?” Louis mocks and Niall’s cheeks burn. “Fuck off, Louis,” He says and is about to shove him away but stops himself; his back hurt for hours after being slammed into a fucking wall. “So now you think you can be all sassy to me?” Louis says. “Is that it, _Princess_?” 

“Stop calling me that,” Niall snaps annoyed.

Louis smiles wryly at him.

“I’ll call you whatever I want, _princess_ ,” he repeats mockingly, and Niall realizes his mistake by even asking him to stop.

“Your treading water,” Louis says, voice dangerously low. His fingers reach up and play lightly with Niall’s hair. Niall doesn’t stop him. Louis looks him dead in the eye. “I think you know me well enough to be smarter than this, princess.”

“Yeah, sure, or else you’ll throw me out of school, I’m shaking in my pants,” Niall says sarcastically, and he doesn’t know where he’s got the nerves; now Louis is surely going to screw him over. Louis actually looks amused. He suddenly wraps an arm around him and pulls him into him. Niall chokes on air when he’s pressed up against Louis.

“Careful now, princess,” He whispers into his ear. “Or you _will_ regret it.”

“Louis,” Niall breathe through his nose; bad idea, Louis’ familiar cologne invades his senses. “Let _go_.” he says, clutching Louis’ shoulder and tries to push him away. Louis doesn’t budge an inch.

“I know you, princess,” Louis says and to Niall’s horror, he nibbles his earlobe. “And I know your weakness. You’re weak to temptation.” Louis then kisses his earlobe, an involuntary shiver runs through Niall and he feels ashamed when his body goes pliant against Louis’; he can sense Louis’ smug smirk. “And I know what you’ve been thirsting for lately.” He bites down harshly and a whimper escapes Niall. “As I said, thread carefully, you don’t want to lose your tiara too soon.”

Just then, the elevator ‘plings’ and Louis pulls away from him. Niall feels weak on his knees and completely and utterly overwhelmed from reasons he can’t pinpoint.

“Sorry, I couldn’t find my keys,” Zayn says as he gets out of the elevator. “Did I make you wait for long?” He says, putting a hand on Niall’s smaller back and giving his cheek a quick peck.

Yes, yes, you were late and left me in the mercy of the devil, Niall’s mind screams, but he gives a slightly shaky smile.

“No, it’s alright,” He says. “Let’s just go.”

“Yeah,” Zayn says and first then notices Louis standing in the door into the common room. “Oh, hey Lou, see you on Sunday night. have fun with Harry,” he says, his tone teasing.

“I’ll do,” Louis says. “You have fun too.”

Zayn leads Niall toward the door and Niall knows he shouldn’t, for the sake of his sanity, but his eyes have a mind of their own and he find them throwing one last glance over his shoulder.

He wishes he hadn’t.

Louis is standing there, leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed and watching them. Their eyes meet and the smile on Louis’ lips terrifies Niall.

It’s cold and malicious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i know i didn't write the gifts, use your imagination ^_^
> 
> love you all xx


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Niall and Zayn return from their romantic weekend together, and Niall has never felt more sure about him and Zayn. He knows despite everything that has happened the past few weeks, Zayn is the best thing that has happened to him in a long time. Sure, they have had their up and downs - more downs lately than ups - and sure Zayn is a prince and Niall is a scholarship boy from bumblefuck Pennsylvania, sure they can’t be together officially, but doesn’t every relationship have its challenges? And isn’t it the journey to stay together that makes it all worth it in the end?

Niall is sure of that.

A week has come and gone since Valentine’s day, or in other words, Louis Tomlinson’s rather ominous threat. Niall has been nervously waiting for Louis to make his move; waited for him to throw him out of school, pull his out his teeth in his sleep or something equally evil and horrible. At this point, nothing that Louis pulls can surprise him in the least.

But nothing happens.

On the contrary, Louis has done everything in his might to avoid and ignore Niall; he makes it a point to leave the room if Niall enters and he hasn’t even looked him in the eye since he last more or less threatened him. Niall can barely admit it to himself, but this treatment hurts his feelings, and he hates himself that he lets Louis get to him as much as he does; the worst part is that Louis knows exactly what he’s doing and how well it’s working. Maybe this is even his plan to make Niall feel like crap and go a bit crazy wondering what he’d done so horribly wrong.  
Niall absolutely resents Louis for that and he also resents himself for feeling like life at Prescott Academy isn’t fulfilled without Louis’ friendship. No matter how much he tries to ignore and brush it off, he can’t deny that it all feels incredibly wrong.

More times than not, Niall wishes he could scroll back his life to a time when everything wasn’t this damn complicated. He doesn’t know when his life turned into a melo-dramatic soap opera but he hates it nonetheless. He wishes he could erase all the good times he’d had with Louis, he wishes he could erase a lot of things; like befriending Jordan, getting together with Josh, hurting Perrie. Yeah, he feels like he’s been hurting a lot of people by his poor decision-making since he came here.

It’s a boring Sunday afternoon when he grows especially nostalgic over some pictures of him and Louis from last semester - particular one taken at the fundraiser when their friendship had been at its peak before that unfortunate - century’s understatement - video of him and Harry crashed through their friendship like a wrecking ball, leaving nothing but rubbles in its wake. 

Niall had thought that they’d been back on track when Louis had flown across the fucking country on _Christmas_ just to convince him to come back to Prescott. The fact that, that actually had happened confuses the hell out of Niall, because why would Louis go through the trouble of bringing him back if he were going to act like a complete asshole? Niall’s thoughts have more times than not drifted to the kiss they shared - a memory that without fail makes Niall’s cheeks heat up and his stomach to do a funny twist - and the possibility that has something to do with Louis’ sudden asshole-y act isn’t too far-fetched. Which once again doesn’t make the slightest bit of sense, considering who kissed who and who wanted to keep the whole thing under wraps.

Niall’s head is beginning to hurt with all the unanswered questions and he decides that enough is enough; he need to hunt Louis down and have a serious talk to him once and for all. Things have already gone too far.

With a determination he hasn’t felt in a while, he gets to his feet and walks out to find Louis. Deciding that the boy’s room is a good start, he makes his way over there. The door into Louis and Harry shared room is slightly ajar and Niall’s pushes it open without knocking - really, _nobody_ does it anyway, because apparently, privacy is overrated among the rich and privileged.

“Louis, we need to-“ the rest of his sentence comes out in a strangled gasp upon the sight that meets him and his face burns such a bright red, it would’ve put any tomato to shame.

He immediately regrets not knocking as he finds Louis and Harry in a rather… _compromising_ situation. Louis is sitting on the edge of the bed, his legs splayed open and Harry is kneeled between his legs, his curly head bobbing furiously between Louis’ legs. It doesn’t take a second glance to figure out exactly what kind of activities are taking place, considering that Niall is too intimate with that position. He guesses it was only about time he found Louis and Harry going at it, seeing as that’s what they were doing 90% of the time.

If Niall wasn’t so embarrassed and taken aback, he would’ve turned on his heels and run right back out. Instead, he finds himself gaping at the scene and his loud entrance of course doesn’t go unnoticed as Louis who’d had his head thrown slightly back and eyes closed, tips his head forward and opens his eyes, his blackened gaze nailing Niall to the ground and Niall jolts as if electrocuted just by the mere look on Louis’ face.

Niall has never seen Louis like this, never seen his eyes stretched into a dark infinity, face flushed with pleasure and small, fine beads of sweat clinging to his brows. Niall can’t move even if his life depended on it.

Harry who’d been enthusiastically working his mouth begins to pull off of Louis, doubtlessly to see who barged in but Louis holds him in place, fisting the hair at the back of his head tightly.

“Don’t stop, Haz,” Louis orders, voice rough and gravelly. He doesn’t remove his eyes from Niall and it’s only once that stupid, infamous smirk of his graces his lips that Niall finally snaps out of it. He nearly slams into the wall at the blind rush he is to get as far away as he can and in the process, he forgets to close the door behind him.

_Fucking hell_

+

 

With a heart beating against his heart like a sledgehammer and a face so flushed it raises concern, Niall instinctively seeks out Zayn. However, it isn’t Zayn he finds in the Prince and Liam’s shared room, but the latter lying on the bed, emitting a rather gloomy atmosphere.

“L-Liam?” Niall calls, the high pitch to his voice causing him to cringe. Liam doesn’t look his way, continues staring at the wall and says in a monotonous tone.

“Zayn’s not here.”

“Uhm…okay…” Niall lingers awkwardly in the doorway, staring at Liam’s dejected state and asks cautiously, “are you sick?”

“No.” Liam replies in the same tone and Niall scratches the back of his head, before closing the door behind him and slowly moving toward Liam. The closer he comes to the boy, the more tangible the air becomes with the depressed vibes rolling off the boys in waves.

“Hey, you alright?” Niall asks gently, gingerly taking a seat at the edge of Liam’s bed. Liam doesn’t reply, eyes void of any emotions and Niall becomes worried, he’s never seen Liam like this.

“Li? What’s wrong?” he puts a cautious hand on Liam’s shoulder and Liam glances at him momentarily before letting out a broken exhale.

“Danielle broke up with me,” he says in a hoarse whisper, sudden tears glazing his eyes over and he quickly wipes them away, turning his face away as if embarrassed at being caught at such a vulnerable state. Niall takes a moment processing his words and once he does he is shocked to say the least.

“What?” he blurts. He wouldn’t have seen this from a mile’s distance. Danielle and Liam are the _it_ couple of the school; the couple that everyone adores and envies; wishing their relationship was as perfect as theirs. Liam and Danielle are perfect for each other; both ambitious and hard-working students. The kind of people the teachers _love_.

What made them break up?

Niall gently touches Liam’s shoulder.

“Do you want to talk about it?” He asks; he wants to be there for Liam just as much as Liam has been there for him. 

There goes a long moment of silence where Niall considers leaving Liam for now, but then Liam sits upright and heaves a deep sigh. His head is bowed as he talks;

 

“I don’t know what happened,” Liam says, shoulders dropped in defeat and he toys with the hem of his shirt. “One minute things are going alright and the next thing I know is she says we need to take a break.”

“So it’s a break, she didn’t actually break up with you?” Niall asks, his hand automatically coming up and rubbing Liam’s back in comforting circles.

“What’s the difference? I don’t even understand why she wants to take a break,” Liam gnaws at his lip, brows furrowing in confusion. “It was just out of the blue. I admit she’s been a little strange lately.”

“What exactly did she say?” Niall asks, frowning.

“That I need to figure out what I really want,” Liam looks at Niall with big, confused eyes; he actually looks adorable and very much lost. “What does that mean? I want her…or at least I think I do.”

“You think you do?” Niall raises an interested brow, obviously Liam doesn’t sound sure at all.

“I mean, Danielle is all I’ve ever known,” Liam mutters with a small dejected shrug. “I’ve been with her since I was a freshman and I’ve always been content with what we had.”

Niall mulls over that for a moment. It sounds like Liam’s relationship with Danielle is more out of convenience than anything else; she sounds like he’s comfort zone. Niall doesn’t say any of that, though.

“I am sure you’re going to get back together,” Niall says with more confidence than he feels and claps Liam on the back. Liam looks at him with hopeful eyes. 

“You think?”

“Yeah,” Niall says. “She’s going to realize how lucky she is to have you and then she’ll come running back. I am sure.”

Liam smiles a little.

“Thanks, Niall,” He says. “I think I needed to hear that.”

“Anytime,” Niall smiles. “Hug?”

“Yeah,” Liam says and moves closer to Niall, resting his face in Niall’s shoulder with a soft sigh. Niall wraps his arms around him and holds him for a small while. Then there’s a knock on the door.

“That must be her,” Niall grins at Liam who looks nervous. “I’ll get it.”

Before Liam can protest, Niall walks over and opens the door. True enough, Danielle is standing on the other side, looking casual in a pair of shorts and an oversized sweatshirt. 

Niall beams, but the smile falters a little at Danielle’s expression. When she sees Niall, her expression goes surprised before her lips pulls down in a frown.

“Is it just you and Zayn?” She asks.

Niall shakes his head.

“No, it’s just me and Liam,” he says and he figures he said something wrong; what with the way Danielle’s frown deepens. “Uhm, I’ll just leave the two of you alone.” He says, walking around Danielle and hurrying away.

+

Zayn is late.

Niall has been waiting for him in the art cemetery for almost half an hour. They were supposed to spend some time together before dinner, but now there is almost no time left before dinner. Niall frowns as he gets up and begins to take on his coat and scarf.

He walks out of the art cemetery and he’s taken a few steps when Zayn decides to show up. “Niall! I’m so sorry that I’m late,” he says and Niall stops up, eyeing him. “Why were you late?” he asks. Zayn hesitates for a moment which really just makes Niall suspicious. “Chanel needed some help and I-“

“Chanel,” Niall cuts him off, voice flat.

“Yeah, she needed some help-“

“And why do you think you’re responsible for that girl,” Niall rudely cuts him off again as he feels the familiar nasty green jealousy spread through his veins. “Since when did you become her baby-sitter?”

“Niall, please don’t make a big deal of this,” Zayn says. “I’m sorry I’m late.”

“I thought you only saw her when you were doing that art project together,” Niall says, eyes narrowed. “How come you’re blowing me off for her?”

“I’m not blowing you off for her, Christ, Niall,” Zayn runs an exasperated hand through his hair. “What happened to “I trust you”, do you even trust me at all? or do you think that I’m cheating on you unless I’m with you?”

“I do trust you,” Niall says stubbornly; deep down, he knows that might not be so true. “I just don’t like you being with her when you’re supposed to be with me.”

“I thought we got over this,” Zayn says, voice slightly annoyed. “Why can’t you just trust me like I trust you considering that…” Zayn trails off as if catching himself and something curls tightly in Niall’s stomach.

“Considering what?” Niall says, voice low and stares at Zayn. Zayn avoids his eyes.

“Nothing,” he mutters. “Let’s just forget this and go have dinner.”

“No,” Niall says. “Say what you are thinking, Zayn. Just fucking say it.”

“Let it go,” Zayn snaps. Niall stares at him, shocked. “It’s nothing,” Zayn says in a softer voice.

“It’s something considering you can’t even say it,” Niall counters and cross his arms. “What were you going to say Zayn? That you trust me considering what?”

“You’re so fucking unbelievable, Niall,” Zayn says, stepping close to Niall until he can look him dead in the eye. “I’m going to be honest, you’re acting like a girl on her period, making a big deal of nothing. I was just helping Chanel out, like a friend. nothing more. Why can’t you take that and just let it go?”

“I’m _not_ acting like a girl on her period, you prick,” Niall snarls and pushes Zayn away from him. “You’re right, I don’t trust you. It wouldn’t be the first time you cheat on your partner.” That sentence escapes Niall before he can stop himself and he regrets it the second it leaves his mouth. Zayn looks like Niall might as well have slapped him.

“Zayn, I didn’t….” Niall trails off when something darkens in Zayn’s eyes.

“Look who’s talking,” Zayn says coldly, looking Niall up and down. “I wonder who I was cheating with,” he says mockingly. “Oh yeah, that was you. Which makes you no fucking better than me. No actually, you know what? You’re worse and I think you know exactly why.”

With that, Zayn turns around and walks away.

Niall stares after him. Zayn might as well have taken a knife and driven it through his heart; it hurts that much. Zayn is referring to Niall fooling around with both him and Harry at the same time; no doubt. And Niall figures he kind of deserved that.

+

Niall and Zayn are still fighting the next day. Or Zayn is avoiding Niall and Niall let him, because he doesn’t want to apologize even though he properly should.

Danielle and Liam are still ‘on break’.

So Liam and Niall find comfort in each other, using their free time watching old Disney movies in Niall’s room while complaining about their rocky relationships to each other; it helps them get some steam off.

“One second, I think that Zayn is everything and the next, I just want to stab him in his pretty face,” Niall confesses over nasty junk food while Lion King runs in the background. “Why can’t our relationship be like…I don’t know, Louis’ and Harry’s, maybe? I rarely see them fight.” The only time he’d seen them fight was when they went to New York but even then, they made up almost immediately.

“But what Louis and Harry has can barely be considered a relationship,” Liam says and throws a salty chips in his mouth. “Have you ever seen them go on a date? Or even hold hands? All they do is having sex. It’s like they’re just using each other and are completely content with that.”

“But they seem to have it so easy though,” Niall moans miserably. “Zayn and I can barely go a week without getting into some other stupid fight. It’s wearing on our relationship. Why can’t I just trust him? Maybe I really am insecure.”

“You’re not,” Liam says.

“I think I am,” Niall admits. “And it’s just; I think that of Zayn cheated on Perrie what keeps him from cheating on me? And don’t I deserve him cheating on me since it was me he cheated with?”

“You made a mistake, Niall,” Liam says. “Doesn’t mean that you deserve to be cheated on.”

“You think so?” Niall asks.

“I know so.”

“I hope you’re right,” Niall sighs and rests his head against Liam’s shoulder. “I am sure you and Zayn will work things out. I know you will,” he says and pats Niall on the head.

Sure they will, but how long will go before their next fight?

+

The library has become like a second home to Niall and he’s so engrossed in reading up to tommorow’s English test that he doesn’t realize it’s closing time. The librarian has to come and tell him that it’s closing time. Seeing her annoyed expression, Niall apologizes before gathering his things and leaving.

He’s walking back to privilege house when he runs into none other than Chanel. They both stop up and stare at each other. Niall figures he should just walk away before he gets the urge to hit a girl. He walks around her and is about to continue on his way when she stops him.

“Niall, wait.”

Niall stops up surprised and turn around. She’s looking at him, her eyes nervous and unsure. 

“What?” Niall asks colder than he’d intended, but he can’t help it; technically the girl has done nothing to him, but the problem she’s caused in his relationship is enough for him to strongly dislike her.

She hesitates a little.

“I just want to say that you don’t have to worry about Zayn and I,” she says and Niall’s jaw clenches slightly; he doesn’t like hearing her and Zayn in the same sentence at all. “We are just friends that’s all,” she says. “And it would be wonderful if we two could become friends as well,” she says and smiles sweetly. Niall studies her suspiciously. “I don’t want to cause any trouble in your relationship.” A little too late for that isn’t it. Niall thinks bitterly.

“So, maybe we could have a fresh start?” She looks at him hopefully, and Niall doesn’t want to; he really doesn’t want to. There’s something about her that doesn’t seem right, and Niall has a problem trusting people that are a little too nice. He’d learned his lesson last year. Niall studies her and considers it for a moment. Maybe it would help Zayn’s and his relationship if he got to know Chanel better. Maybe he will be able to trust Zayn if he saw for himself how Chanel and Zayn interacted.

“Alright then,” he says, albeit a little reluctantly. Chanel doesn’t seem to notice; she beams at him.

“Cool!” She says giddily. “Alright, see you tomorrow, Niall!” She waves before turning on her heels and walking away.

Niall stares after her, hoping this isn’t going to bite him in the ass.

***

Niall figures he should swallow his pride and apologize to Zayn. So that’s what he has in mind when he knock on the door into his room. He opens the door and walks inside. This time, Liam isn’t in the room, but Zayn is. Perched up against the headboard of his bed, reading a book with his glasses on; and yeah, he looks hot as usual.

Zayn looks up at him, and yeah, he doesn’t look particular happy at seeing him.

“Zayn,” Niall says, closing the door behind him and takes a few steps in the room. “Can we talk?”

Zayn studies him for a moment before putting the book aside and taking off his glasses. He swings his legs over the bed and stands up.

“Before you say anything, I have to ask you this,” Zayn says, and Niall looks confused but nod nonetheless.” Did you accuse Chanel of being a ‘boy-stealing skank’?”

It takes a few second for Niall to comprehend Zayn’s words and when he does, he nearly has whiplash.

“ _What?_ ” He exclaims flabbergasted and stares open-mouthed at Zayn who stares back at him evenly.

“Well, did you?” Zayn asks and Niall feels a sour taste in his mouth; Zayn can’t be serious, why would he even ask him that?

“What? no!” Niall says, shaking his head. “I am actually trying to be friends with her!” Then realization hits him. The only one who could’ve said that is Chanel. “Or I was! Did she really tell you that?!” Niall asks incredulously, because if she did; then she’s one manipulative bitch.

Zayn doesn’t reply, he just stares at Niall.

And it hits Niall.

“You don’t believe me, do you,” He says flatly.

Zayn shrugs and looks away.

“I don’t know what to believe,” he replies.

“What do you mean ‘you don’t know’`? You believe her over me?” Niall asks, the familiar searing, white-hot anger pulsing through his veins. He digs his fingernails into the palm of his hand, not feeling the pain at all. 

Zayn looks back at him; his gaze unreadable.

 

“With the way you’ve been acting lately, nothing would surprise me,” He says.

And Niall feels something inside of him _snap_.

“Hah,” He scoffs and shakes his head. “This is actually sad. That our relationship has come to this. we don’t trust each other, or believe each other, so what is the point? I was actually going to apologize but you know what? Go fuck yourself, Zayn.”

And with that, Niall stalks out, making sure to slam the door behind him

+

“You’re a bit late,” Niall says when Hunter finally shows up in the library where he’d agreed to help Niall with the extra-credit math project. Hunter smiles a little as he takes a seat in front of Niall.

“Sorry,” he says.

Then Niall looks closer at Hunter’s expression and his heart drops a little.

“What’s wrong?” Niall asks dreadfully.

“Nothing,” Hunter shakes his head and avoids Niall’s eyes. “It’s probably nothing.”

“ _What_ is it, Hunter?” Niall asks more insistently. Hunter chews on his lip and finally meet Niall’s gaze.

“It’s just, you know how you told me about Zayn and Chanel?” Hunter asks, and Niall nods. Maybe he shouldn’t have gone to Hunter but he hadn’t been able to find Liam, and then he’d ran into Hunter beyond upset and he’d sort of blurted it out.

“I just saw her walk toward the art cemetery.”

Niall feels his heart drop to his liver.

+

 

And Niall feels like this can’t really be happening. Is Zayn really still hanging out with Chanel even when she lied to him? Or did Zayn actually believe her over him? No, Niall can’t. He doesn’t want to believe it. He doesn’t want to go to the art cemetery. Everything inside of him is screaming for him to turn around, but he doesn’t.

He finds himself walking into the building of the art cemetery with a heart beating at a rate that is anything but healthy. And even before he opens the door, he knows he isn’t going to like whatever is going on inside.

And he’s right.

There Zayn is, lying on his back on the couch with Chanel straddling him.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for the reads and lovely comments <3

Chapter 30

There are a few things that has ever hurt Niall as much as seeing his boyfriend straddled by a chick as he pushes the shirt of her slender shoulder. Niall's heart _shatters_ into a million of small, unrecognizeable pieces.

“Oh my God,” he gasps out, loud and shocked, and swallows the bile in his throat back down. Chanel jumps up with a startled, un-charming squeak and frantically grasp for her shirt, covering her white lace bra. Her skirt is on the floor, leaving her in nothing but her skimpy g-string that fully displays her round ass. Niall can taste vomit in his mouth.

“N-Niall! what are you doing here!?” She exclaims and looks throughout embarassed and shocked as she stares at him with wide, deer-caught-in-the-headlight eyes all the while hopping around awkwardly to pull her skirt on. Zayn looks like he isn't entirely there, looking at Niall confused as if he doesn't understand what he's doing there. Niall is five seconds away from smacking him so hard that his teeth would rattle.

“Niall?” Zayn blinks at him.

“Shut the fuck up,” Niall snaps, voice cracking much to his dismay.“I don’t want to look at you ever again!”

Zayn just blinks like he has a problem processing Niall’s words. What the fuck is wrong with him? Why doesn’t he jump up like Chanel? Why doesn't he beg Niall for forgiveness? Was everything they ever shared a lie? All the “I love you”s? Niall has to swallow again in order not to throw up; he isn’t going to give either of them that satisfaction.

Chanel has already gathered her things and with her head bowed low, she scurries past Niall; if she thinks she's getting away that easily, she has another thing coming

“You bitch,” Niall snarls, voice dripping with poison as he walks out after her. She tries to escape, but she isn't fast in her stupid high heels so Niall easily catches up to her. He grabs her arm and forces her to stop, using every ounce of self-control not to hurt her badly. “You fucking manipulative _bitch_.”

“Let me go!” She exclaims loudly, sounding frightened — and with good reason, Niall looks blood-thirsty — she struggles feebly against him, but he has an iron-grip on her.

“Let’s be friends? What the fuck was that about? about going behind my back and crawling on top of my boyfriend?” Niall splutters, white, hot anger setting his blood on fire and he's never ever laid hands on a girl, but _God_ does his fingers itch to plant a well-deserved smack across her annoyingly pretty face. “What happened to “I don’t want to get between you and Zayn”? you’re such a fucking liar!”

“I wasn’t alone about it!” Chanel cries defensively, ripping her arm out of Niall's grip.“I didn’t throw myself at him. He was easy enough to seduce. You saw him for yourself. He is the one who invited me out here.”

Niall’s vision goes black for a second; he feels like he might actually faint. She’s lying; she’s _got_ to be lying. One thing is if Chanel had been the one to seduce him. If she’d known that Zayn would be in the Art Cemetery as he is most nights and went there in her sexy clothes, dark, exotic and seducing. Niall still won’t forgive Zayn, but it would be so much better if Niall could put all the blame on her. Chanel uses Niall’s momentarily shock to get away. Niall has to run to catch up to her.

“You’re lying!” He shouts after her, too out of it to care of who might hear them here in the open campus.“I’ve seen how you’re hanging on him all the time! This all _your_ fault!”

Chanel stops up and turns, staring at Niall with unblinking eyes..

“I’m not lying,” She says quietly and fumbles with her coat. “Not about this.” She pulls out her phone and taps a few times on the screen before turning it toward Niall. “Isn’t that Zayn’s number? You’re welcome to open it.”

 _She is lying_. Niall knows she’s lying. But that is Zayn’s number; no doubt. His hands shake when he takes the phone from her hand and he opens the message. It says;

**I can’t wait any longer. I got to have you, NOW. Meet me in the art cemetery.**

The anger and hurt that explodes inside of Niall is so intense that he feels like he might actually go up in flames. He impulsively throws the phone to th asphalt where the screen splinters into a million of pieces; just like Niall's heart.

“Fuck you!” he screams hysterically and shoves past Chanel so hard, she stumbles and falls to the ground in an ungracefull heap. Niall storms off without looking back.

+

By the time Niall makes it to Privilege House, the tears are streaking down his flushed cheeks in steady rivulets. He bows his head and speeds past the common room where pleasant laughter and chatter is echoing from. He frantically presses the button to the elevator, and it seems it takes ten times longer than usual; he's about to take the stairs instead, too shaky to stand still for long, when it finally comes down. It pings queitly as the door slides open, and Niall freezes. 

_Louis_.

Just his luck.

Louis who'd looked bored looks at Niall, though when he sees his tear-stained face, he freezes. The doors begins sliding close, so Louis grabs them and steps out. He studies Niall with something akin to a concerned look — though Niall absolutely refuses to believe that Louis would ever feel concerned about him — a frown settling between his brows. 

“What happened to you?” Louis asks then, lifting his hand as if to touch Niall and Niall instinctively flinches away from his touch. Avoiding Louis' eyes, he tries to brush past him, though much to his frustration, Louis grabs his shoulder.

"Leave me the fuck alone," Niall snarls icily, jerking away. Niall jaw clenches tightly; Oh, _now_ he is worthy of Louis’ words? ”Don’t even pretend that you care.” He shoves past Louis, purposefully slamming into the other's shoulder as he gets into the elevator. Once the elevator begins to move, the hard look on Niall's face crumbles and he buries his face in his hand, screaming and kicking the wall so hard, it feels like his toes might fall off.

The elevator arrives at his floor and he storms out. He turns a corner, colliding directly into a firm body and nearly sending them both crashing to the floor. 

“Wow, easy there, what’s the rush?”

Niall blinks at the familiar voice and raises his gaze to see Liam giving him a good-natured smile, however, the smile falters when he gets a closer look at Niall.

“Niall? What’s wrong?” He asks worried and quickly looks Niall over as if searching for visible harm. “Niall? Why are you crying?” Liam tenderly touches his wet cheek with his fingertips.

And Niall dissolves into a pathetic mess of broken gasps and loud sobs.

“I-It’s Zayn and C-Chanel,” he chokes out, heaving after air. “They were…in the A-Art Cemetery.”

Liam’s eyes widen in understanding and he quickly gathers Niall in his arm, holding him to him protectively. “Hey, hey there now, it’s going to be alright,” He says soothingly as he wraps a hand up and down Niall's trembling back. Niall bawls loudly — completely losing control of his emotions — clutching Liam's shoulder like he's a lifeline. He swallows and heaves and tries to breathe through the ball of pain in his chest.

“I’m so sorry, Niall.”

A couple of boys on the floor peek out behind their doors, curious as what the commotion is all about. Niall is forever thankful when Liam tactfully guides him to his and Conrad's shared room; he is thankful to discover that his no-business rommate is nowhere to be found..

Liam sits Niall down on the blonde's bed and lets the younger boy cry his heart out without questions. Niall doesn't know for how long he cries and every time he thinks he's out of tears, the image of Chanel straddling Zayn will flash through his mind and he'll remember all the special moments shared on that very couch, and that damn message staring him in the face and a new set of fresh tears would gather in his eyes.

As the tears begin to dry out and Niall's eyes feels like a desert, is the hurt slowly replaced with deep resentment for both Zayn and Chanel — but mostly Zayn, because by the end of the day Chanel is just some random girl. 

Liam hands him a tissue and Niall dries his eyes and cheeks, blowing his snotty nose in it. Then he takes a deep shaky breath. Liam gently touches his shoulder and Niall turns his gaze on him.

“I’m sorry,” Liam repeats, puppy eyes sympathetic. “You don’t deserve that. I never thought Zayn would…” he shakes his head as if unable to believe it. 

“He told me he loved me,” Niall croaks miserably; feeling very much pathetic. 

“Oh, Nialler,” Liam coos softly and pulls him into a comforting hug. Niall clings to him, tries to absorb some of the comfort he’s radiating. Liam cards his fingers through his hair until Niall isn’t breathing like he’s drowning. “It’s going to be alright.” Liam whispers and Niall feels him kiss the crone of his head.

They sit like that for a small while until Niall pulls his face off Liam's shoulder, lifting his face to look at Liam and consequently leaving their faces inches apart. Niall is about to pull away, but something stops him — a rather dark feeling pouring out of the gaping hole of his heart and he never took himself for the revengeful guy, but suddenly, there's nothing he'd rather do than hurt Zayn as bad as Zayn had hurt him.

His judgment is impaired and somewhere in the back of his mind, he knows that he'll end up regretting this dearly, but right at that moment, right there where the echo of his broken heart beats louder than his reason, he couldn't care less.

Liam is looking at him curiously. Niall tilts his face, bringing his and Liam's face even closer. Liam's eyes widen a fraction. Niall doesn't move, barely breathes as he looks at Liam through half-mast eyes — bluer than usual due to the tears — and something in Liam's expression changes drastically; he looks conflicted. Niall should stop and pull away, but he doesn't.

Instead he closes the gap between him and Liam.

Liam freezes and unrepsonsive to the soft press of Niall's lips. Niall moves his lips against Liam's, impatient and annoyed, and he's about to pull away when Liam finally responds.

Then Liam’s gaze flickers down to his lips and it becomes obvious; Liam wants to kiss him.

He curls a hand around the back of Niall’s neck and returns the kiss, softly, and uncertainly. Niall lets Liam take the lead; he lets him move his lips against his and just as Niall suspected, Liam’s kisses are as sweet as he is. Niall places a hand on Liam’s shoulder and tilts his face a little to deepen the kiss. Liam’s unoccupied hand pressing into the small of Niall’s back, pushing him closer and Niall falls pliant into Liam’s lean body.

Liam’s teeth gently graces Niall’s bottom lip and Niall shivers lightly, opening his mouth for Liam’s tongue. Liam’s tongue is a little cautious as it explores Niall’s mouth, running along his teeth and pressing against the roof of Niall’s mouth. Niall’s let out a quiet, breathy moan and Liam grows more confident, his kiss more intense and Niall kisses him back with just as much intensity.

Amidst it all, Niall gets a brief flashback of the first time he saw Liam on his first day, how he’d practically drooled over him and how disappointed he’d been when he’d found out he was straight and had a girlfriend.

Niall's mind stutters to a screeching halt at the image of Danielle hanging on Liam's arm, and some sense breaks through the darkness clouding his heart and mind as he realises that the only casualty of this kiss isn't Zayn, it's Danielle as well.

_Oh, God. Danielle._

Niall shoves Liam away so hard, the other boy nearly tumbles off the bed. Liam blinks rapidly, dazed and bewildered until he sees Niall's mortified expression. He is covering his mouth with his hand.

"Fuck, Oh my God, Liam, I'm so sorry, I-" Niall mumbles croakily and Liam's eyes widen as he too, realizes what had just happened. Liam begins to apologize in a rush and profusely, but a sharp shake of Niall's head makes him shut up.

"It's my fault, I'm sorry. Just go - you should leave," Niall says, face flushed as he avoids Liam's big eyes. 

“Yeah, right, I-uhm,” Liam scrambles to his feet and nearly falls over his own legs. “I don’t know what just …” he shakes his head, cheeks red with embarrassment. “I’m sorry.” he whispers again before turning around and leaving in a rush.

Niall stares after him as the weight of what just happened falls on his shoulder. “Fuck,” he curses and buries his face in his hands. Did he just ruin the perfect friendship he had with Liam? What is _wrong_ with him? Danielle and Liam are on a break; doesn’t that mean that they technically still are together? “Oh my God, not again,” Niall moans. “Not again.”

This time, he can’t keep down the sickness and he has to rush to the toilet and throw up everything he ate the last 24 hours. Once he’s done, his eyes are stinging and he feels like complete shit. He weakly stumbles back to his bed and falls into it. He buries his face in the pillow and screams into it, until his throat feels soar.

He crawls under his duvet, fully clothes and covers his face.

He never wants to go out again. ever. 

He should never have come back.

+

“Niall?” Conrad calls the next morning. “If you don’t get up now, you’re going to be late. Or don't you have morning classes?”

“I do,” Niall says glumly from where he’s buried under his blanket.

There’s a beat of silence.

“Are you sick?” Conrad asks.

“No,” Niall replies. “I’ll… I’ll get up now.”

As much as Niall would like to hide in his bed and never face the world again, he has an important French test today; one that will count in his final grade and he can't afford to miss it. He sluggishly gets out of bed and drags his feet as he walks to the bathroom. He ignores the concerned looks Conrad shoots him.

Niall stands under the showerhead for ages and only gets out when the water turns icy and his skin pink and wrinkly. He feels like a robot as he gets ready to school. He’s tense all over when he gets out of Privilege House and he’s barely taken two steps when he hears a familiar voice.

“Niall! Wait!”

Niall stiffens momentarily, before picking up pace without looking back.

“Niall, please! I can’t keep up with you, please, stop.” Something in his tone makes Niall stop up; something pathetic that Niall’s broken heart can’t ignore. Niall takes a deep inhale of air, exhales and then slowly turns around. 

Zayn is bent over, hands on his knees as he pants heavily. When he looks up, his usually perfectly styled hair looks like a bird nest, his eyes are bloodshot and skin unnaturally pale. He looks like a wreck and a part of Niall wants to rush over and hug him and kiss him and asks what’s wrong. Another part, a much bigger one, wants to punch him square in the face.

“What?” Niall snaps coldly.

“I need to talk to you,” Zayn pleads, straightening up. “Please.”

“We don’t have more to talk about, Zayn,” Niall replies as he begins to turn away. “Not now. Not ever.” 

“Niall,” Zayn says, his voice oddly breathless. “Please just listen to me. About last night.”

“No, I don’t want to talk about it,” Niall snaps harshly, heart beating in painful thuds.

“Well, I want to,” Zayn snaps back; snaps at Niall like he was the one who’d let Chanel crawl on top of him. _And_ it was entirely Zayn's fault that he'd kissed Liam; it would never have happened if Zayn hadn't broken his heart.

“Niall, I wasn’t myself, I was drugged, I had no idea what I was doing,” Zayn rushes to say, stumbling over his words and heaving a little for air. “Everything was foggy and I was in the Art cemetery and then Chanel showed up out of nowhere, and then you were there, I can barely remember what happened—”

“Stop!” Niall shouts, causing Zayn to flinch back at the raise in volume. “Stop lying to me Zayn! I don’t want to hear it your lies!” Niall voice cracks and he feels his eyes water up again.

“I’m not lying, Niall, I’m not,” Zayn says, sounding desperate. “You can ask Louis. He found me in the Art Cemetery drugged within an inch of my life — Fuck, Niall, I would _never_ do that to you! I would never hurt you like that!”

“Louis,” Niall repeats, feeling something slippery cold run down his back. “Louis found you?”

Zayn nods frantically and looks at Niall with wide, pleading eyes.

Niall swallows heavily. Louis had found him? As if he’d known all along that Zayn would need his help. But, Louis wouldn’t do that. _He wouldn’t_.

“Niall, you have to believe me,” Zayn is suddenly standing a lot closer and his hand moves up to touch Niall; Niall flinches away from his touch. Zayn looks at him with hurt eyes.

“It can’t… then,” Niall shakes his head and then he remembers. “What, then what about that message?”

“What message?” Zayn asks confused.

“Don’t play dumb,” Niall snaps. “That message you sent to Chanel about how much you wanted her,” Niall says, feeling sick all over again. “And don’t you even dare lie to me, I saw it with my own eyes.”

Zayn stares blankly at him.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Zayn says with a frown. “I never wanted Chanel, at least not more than a friend. I want you, Niall. It’s always been you.” Niall feels a tear escape his eye and he furiously wipes it away. This doesn’t add up. Someone is lying here.

But who?

Zayn grabs Niall’s hands.

“Niall, look at me, baby, please, look at me,” Zayn pleads and Niall forces himself to look into Zayn’s eyes. “Look at me and tell me I’m lying.” Niall searches Zayn’s eyes, stares and stares but he can’t find any trace of lies or deceit. All he can see is despair.

“I…” Niall trails off, a motion out of the corner of his eyes catching his attention. He looks over and his heart drops from his chest to his toes when he sees a very furious looking Danielle walking briskly toward them, a very horrified looking Liam just behind her, trying to stop her.

Oh God.

That’s the only thing Niall gets to think before Danielle gives him a hard, sharp slap across his cheek.


	7. Chapter 7

Danielle hits a hell of lot harder than Perrie does, Niall can't help but think as his cheeks stings with pain. He catches eyes with Liam's guilty ones, and he can't fucking believe that he told him — though the possibilty that he'd blabbered it out in a moment of guilt is high. Niall avoids Danielle's flashing eyes and as he stands there in the center of attention of the three, he finds himself praying to God that the ground will crack open and swallow him so he doesn't have to face the looming disaster.

“What the fuck was that for?” Zayn asks flabbergasted, his fingers automatically coming up to touch Niall's cheek. Niall moves away from his touch, turning his gaze elsewhere than Zayn's hurt expression

“Oh, I don’t know, why don’t you ask Niall,” Danielle spits and she sounds furious. She crosses her arms tightly under her chest and her usually kind eyes are glaring coldly and unforgivingly at Niall. Niall who cowardly does everything in his might not to meet Danielle's eyes, keeping his gaze fixed on his shoes. He can feel Zayn's gaze burn into him.

“Niall, what is she talking about?” Zayn asks confused.

Niall pulls his lips into his mouth and doesn't reply.

“What's wrong, Niall? You can’t even own up to what you did? Can’t even tell your supposed boyfriend?” Danielle says mockingly.

“Dani, please, would you just calm-“

“Don’t fucking tell me to calm down, Liam Payne!” Danielle snaps harshly, causing Liam to jump back startled. Judging from his kicked-puppy expression, Danielle has never talked to him in that tone before.

“Tell me what?” Zayn asks, looking at all of them. “Tell me _what_?” he asks, voice more insistent and dreadful as well. 

Niall swallows and he wonders whether Danielle would pity him if he begged her to let him talk to Zayn alone. When he looks at her, she’s glaring at him, so he figures probably not.

“Your little boyfriend is going around and kissing other people’s partners,” Danielle says and under her harsh tone, Niall can sense the hurt and his stomach twists. He can’t find the courage to look at Zayn’s reaction, but the tone in his voice is enough.

“What?” He says, voice quiet and disbelieving. He is staring at Niall now as if he’s waiting for Niall to deny it, actually, he looks like he’s hoping that Niall with deny it; practically begging him to deny it with his eyes.

When Niall stares back blankly, Zayn’s eyes sends him such a deeply betrayed look that partly makes Niall feel guilty, partly makes him feel angry; because _damnit_ , it's all Zayn's fault to begin with. Niall turns away from Zayn’s unbearable gaze to look at Danielle. Liam is staring at ground, head bowed in guilt and shame. Niall kind of wants to kick him in the nuts, that fucking idiot.

“Danielle,” Niall starts, finally meeting Danielle’s eyes. “

“Don’t.” Danielle cuts him off sharply, lifting her hand. “Tell me Niall, what exactly is wrong with you? Don’t you understand the concept of being committed to one person and one person only?! Why the fuck are you prancing around and ruining people’s relationships? Do you even realize how much you’re hurting people by what you do?” Danielle looks like she’s asking him genuinely, and Niall opens his mouth, not sure what to say but most probably to apologize, but she continues; “That’s all you’ve been doing since you came here. going behind your friends’ back, abusing their trust and betraying them! First Perrie then Louis and now _me_! Do you even learn from your mistakes?”

No, he obviously doesn’t, but he doesn’t say that. Just stares blankly at Danielle all the while her words feels like one million of tiny needles piercing through his skin. She’s right and he knows it.

“All you’re doing is causing trouble and drama wherever you go; hell, this whole fucking school has been revolving around you since you came,” Danielle says and to some extent, Niall can’t deny that, but she can’t blame him for befriending a murderous physcopath who killed his boyfriend. “Louis might have forgiven you, but I am never going to forgive you for this. You better take a step back and look at how much destruction you’re leaving in your trail or you’ll end up losing each and every person that has ever made the mistake of caring about you.”

Danielle levels him with hard, judgmental eyes, gives him one last withering look in the eyes before storming off.

Liam lingers behind for a second. He looks at Zayn and Zayn gives him such a heated glare, that Niall is surprised Liam doesn't turn into a puddle on the spot. Liam quickly looks away as he clears his throat awkwardly and glances quickly at Niall; a look of deep apology in his eyes.

“I-I am sorry,” He says quietly before chasing after Danielle.

Now that they're gone, Niall is left alone with Zayn with no choice but to face him. He slowly turns to meet his gaze and the previous hurt in Zayn's eyes is replaced with something much darker and smoldering.Niall nervously lick his lip and opens his mouth to say something, but Zayn doesn’t give him the chance.

He turns around and storms back toward the dorm. Niall hesitates for a split-second and goes after him with minimal hope of fixing their broken relationship.

“Zayn! Zayn, wait!” Niall calls after him, but he all he gets is a heavy door slammed in his face; Niall barely manages to dodge it before it crushes his hand. He quickly opens it, going after Zayn into the foyer of Privilege House. A quick look around makes Niall thankful that it’s empty of their curious dorm mates. “ _Zayn_.”

Zayn stops up and turns to face him, his face hard lines of anger.

“You’re fucking unbelievable!” He near-shouts. “We’re so over, you have no idea!”

Niall had meant to defend himself, but at those words, he completely deflates; heart dropping to somewhere in his liver. 

“No, no, don’t say that, Zayn, you know I lov-“

“Don’t you fucking dare say that!” Zayn cuts him off sharply and Niall claps his mouth together. “You never did. I was never enough for you, Niall. I gave you everything I had to offer but that was never enough was it? As soon as you see the slightest chance, you run off and hook up with my _best friend_!”

Niall wants — _should_ explain himself, explain that technically he’d thought that they were broken up, that he’d been too hurt and angry to think a single thought straight. Tell him that he believes Zayn was drugged — nobody acts the way Zayn did after being caught cheating — and he should tell Zayn that he loves him more than he has ever loved anyone before and that they can work through this.

He should, but he doesn’t. Something stops him and all he finds himself capable of is staring at Zayn with blank eyes. His lack of words only seems to anger the Prince more as his nose flares with infuriation, eyes growing colder by the second. 

“Don’t you realize you aren’t just fucking our relationship over?” Zayn asks then. “You’re fucking my friendship with Liam over as well, because now, I can’t look at him without wanting to punch him in the face!”

“I’m sorry,” Niall says, but his voice is oddly flat.

“Sorry is not going to work here,” Zayn snaps. “You obviously have a serious problem; you simply can’t help yourself from throwing yourself at anyone who looks at you for more than two seconds.” _Ouch_ , Niall winces at that, but there might be a speck of truth to that. “You can’t tie yourself to one person. And I’m not going to share you with the whole fucking school, either you’re all mine or you aren’t mine at all. And apparently it’s going to be the latter.”

“Would you just let me speak, please?” Niall says quietly and looks pleadingly at Zayn. If Zayn would just calm a little down and sit down with him so they could talk it through.

“There really is nothing you can say to change my mind,” Zayn says. “I can’t ever trust you again. Harry, me, and now _Liam_ who is supposed to be straight but hey, you can get anyone wrapped around your finger, can’t you?” His voice is going from angry to poisonous. He stares at Niall and shakes his head with a scoff. “Hell, who’s going to be next. _Louis_?”

Niall’s eyes widen and he stiffens for a split-second, but Zayn catches the reaction. Zayn’s mouth falls open as he stares at Niall in utter incredulousness. 

“Oh my god, you really get around, don’t you?” Zayn spits those words in such a way that he might as well have called Niall a slut; Niall cheeks burn in shame and he looks away from Zayn’s judgmental gaze. He doesn’t even bother to explain that they were technically broken up when he kissed Louis.

Zayn shakes his head again.

“Danielle is right,” he says. “You’re fucking tornado; you destroys everything in your path. And I’m not going to let myself get sucked in by you anymore. Goodbye.”

And a part of Niall dies when Zayn’s says the three dreadful words.

“We are done.”

+

The day becomes unbearable; once again, Niall finds himself the center of rumors and whispers behind his back, the judgmental stares and pointing fingers.

Of course, the whole school already knows or at least they think they know, no matter what, it seems that Niall is getting the worst of it; which he thinks isn’t fair, because if anything, people should give Liam a hard time too; it isn’t like Niall forced himself onto him. And why doesn’t anyone bother to consider his side of the story? It’s just like the whole Harry-situation all over again.

Niall hates this school, but he hates himself even more.

He feels numb all over and he feels very much like a robot as he goes from class to class trying his best to ignore the malicious words whispered behind his back; but it isn’t easy. Everyone apparently hates his guts for not only breaking the prince of the school’s heart but also breaking up the ‘it’-couple of the school. He’s had a couple of classes with Zayn and had to fight the urge to stare longingly at him; he doesn’t need to appear more pathetic than he already does.

Some of the stuff people are whispering behind his back makes him want to curl up in his bed and cry, but he also thinks that as long as they don’t come to his face and say whatever they think of him, he can get through the day.

And get through the day he does, albeit feeling like not only a social failure but an academic failure as well after flunking his French test. When he doesn’t get his usual A+, then he thinks he might kill himself.

Needless to say, when the classes are finally over, Niall feels emotionally and mentally exhausted. 

+

Niall is sitting on the roof of privilege house and since he hasn’t been fond of roofs at all after everything that happened last year, it just comes to show how desperate he is of getting away from all the judgment.

He feels like bawling his eyes out, but his eyes remain blank and dry as he stares at the city in the distance. He looks up at the sky and sees a plane; he imagines himself being in there, far, far away from this mess his life has become. He doesn’t know when it became a soap opera. 

And to make everything worse, he is very, very hungry. He had barely eaten anything at breakfast, having been unable to get anything down his throat and he didn’t want to go to lunch; he wouldn’t be able to eat anything with the whole fucking school scrutinizing his every movement and waiting for him to crack under all the heavy stares.

He sits there for ten minutes more, feeling very miserable and sorry for himself when the door to the roof opens and he looks up. 

It’s Harry with windblown curls, red cheeks and a grin, flashing a perfect set of pearly-white teeth when he sees Niall. Niall feels cool relief wash over him. He’d been scared that Harry would give him the cold shoulder and ignore him and take Zayn’s side. But he should’ve known better, Harry isn’t like that. 

“There you are! I’ve been searching all over for you!” Harry says and walks up to Niall, flopping down next to him. 

“You weren’t there at lunch and I thought you might be hungry. I’ve got your favorite drink, cinnamon latté,” Harry says, putting down a coffee tray with two drinks and a paper bag. He hands Niall the drink with dimply smile. “And I’ve got chocolate chip cookies and pastries and I even got some oranges, gotta sneak in something healthy every once in a while.” Harry says and fishes out a cookie from the paper bag, handing it to Niall.

Niall blinks and stares a speechlessly at Harry.

“Harry, I…” Niall manages the first smile of the day. “Thank you. You’re the best.”

“I know,” Harry grins cheekily. 

Niall begins to eat to the sound of Harry’s mindless rambling and the more Harry talk, the more Niall realizes that he’s trying to keep Niall’s mind off more unpleasant things; but maybe he’s curious as well.

When Niall is done, he stares at Harry not really hearing what he’s saying and then he hears himself blurt;

“What’s wrong with me?”

Harry stutters to a halt and stares at Niall.

“Niall,” he says, previous carefree tone serious. “There’s nothing wrong with you.”

“There must be _something_ wrong with me,” Niall says quietly, bowing his head and playing with a loose thread on his sweatshirt. “Why do I keep hurting the people I care about? Why can’t I ever be grateful for what I have? Why am I so…so _greedy_?” Niall feels the words tumble out of his mouth and he knows he’ll begin rambling. “Everyone is right. If I hadn’t come then-

“Niall-“

“- Josh would be alive, Jordan would be alive, Perrie wouldn’t be heartbroken, neither would Danielle, Zayn wouldn’t have wasted his time on someone as unworthy as me-“

“Niall-“

“This whole school thinks I’m a manwhore that steals boyfriends and sleeps around with people in relationship and hurt people. All the horrible stuff they say about me might as well be tru-“

“Niall!!” Harry shouts and Niall finally shuts up. Niall takes a shuddering breath and he feels his eyes sting and god no, he can’t begin crying now; he clenches his eyes shut and takes another deep inhale.

“Everything you just said has no speck of truth in it,” Harry says after a moment of studying Niall. “If you weren’t here, then Jordan would still have murdered Josh, just for another reason, Zayn and Perrie would’ve eventually broken up anyway, because Zayn never really loved her, the same goes for Danielle and Liam,” Harry says. “If you weren’t here, then privilege house wouldn’t have been here, Zayn wouldn’t have met you and no matter what he says, he can’t regret what the two of you had. If you didn’t come to this school, then I would never have met you and I don’t like that thought. I really, really like you Niall. You’re really important to me.”

Harry gives Niall an endearing smile and Niall knows Harry’s little speech is supposed to make him feel better but it just makes him feel worse. He doesn’t deserve Harry’s kindness, not a tad bit.

“I hooked up with Louis,” Niall blurts out. “We kissed,” he quickly clarifies. He closes his eyes and expect the worst; expect Harry to take everything he just said back, expect Harry to get up and leave, but he doesn’t get what he expects.

“Okay.”

Niall’s eyes snaps open and stares at Harry. Harry, who is looking back at him with a good-natured smile as if Niall hadn’t just confessed to making out with his boyfriend.

“Okay?” Niall repeats disbelievingly. “Is that all you’ve got to say? _okay_? I’m having a hard time confessing that I’ve hooked up with your boyfriend and all you offer is okay?”

Harry tilts his face and blinks.

“Uh, I guess so,” He shrugs carelessly. “Niall, Lou and I don’t have the…’traditional’ relationship,” Harry says and makes air-quotes with his fingers. “I love Louis to pieces but I’m not in love with him and he’s not in love with me. Our relationship has always been one of convenience more than anything. We have great sex and I can talk to him about anything and that’s always been enough for me.” 

Niall stares at Harry unblinkingly.

“So, basically you’re okay with it?” He asks with cautious hope.

Harry gives him his trademark grin complete with dimples denting both cheeks.

“If anything, it boosts the chances of a threesome with you and Lou,” He says, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

“Oh God, you’re too much,” Niall groans and buries his face in his hands.

“But hey, don’t listen to what anyone says, alright?” Harry says and nudges Niall in the side. “People here are so thirsty for drama. It’s ridiculous.”

Niall doesn’t say anything, because how can he not listen when it’s all he hears all day?

“Hmm…I wonder how long you have to wait after a break-up to make a move,” He muses and Niall stares at him.

“You got to be kidding me,” Niall says. Harry looks at him.

“I was talking about Liam, actually,” Harry says and he’s suddenly got this predatory gleam in his eyes that makes Niall afraid for Liam. “I knew that boy secretly liked dick all along.” Harry smirks. “He has the perfect mouth. And I’d give my right leg for a blow job from him. I bet he’d be a natural.” Harry looks dreamingly into the distance and Niall guesses he has x-rated fantasies about Liam; and Niall can’t deny it, Liam really got wonderful lips. “I’d totally let him top me. And I think he’d be a wild animal in bed and really rough despite his sweet front.”

“Harry!” Niall exclaims before Harry begins to get more graphic, which he, no doubt will, if not stopped. “Stay away from Liam! He’s innocent and pure. Don’t corrupt him.”

“He’s not going to be innocent for much longer,” Harry smirks. “Not when I get my hands on him.”

Niall sighs. How did they come to talk about how Liam would be in bed? Niall mentally notes down to warn Liam of horny, pretty-faced pop celebrities with charming smiles.

“Hey!” Harry says and snaps his fingers as if remembering something. “I have something that can cheer you up!” He beams at Niall. “What?” Niall asks as Harry grabs his arm and hauls him to his feet. 

“You’ll see!” Harry sings and Niall sighs, letting the pop star drag him along.

+

Niall stares down at the small, fluffy creature. It stares back at him with big teal green eyes and Niall tries not to fall for that adorable look it’s sending him. But then it lets out a tiny ‘miauw’ and begins licking it’s small paw with a pink tongue.

“Isn’t she just adoooooorable!?” Harry coos and strokes the small black-spotted, white kitten. 

“Where did you find it?” Niall says and crawls onto Harry’s bed as well, cautiously scratching the back of it’s small ear. It mewls and leans closer to his touch. Niall’s lips curve up in a smile.

“Don’t call her it!” Harry exclaims. “And I found her behind the dorm this morning. The poor baby was curled up under some fallen leaves. I don’t know what happened to the mother, she was all alone. She just looked at me with those big eyes and my heart melted in an instant. I want to keep her.” Harry says with sparkling eyes. He looks at Niall excitedly.

And Niall hates to burst Harry’s happy bubble but he needs to give him a reality check.

“We aren’t allowed to keep pets in our dorms,” He says.

Harry isn’t deterred.

“So what? nobody will ever know! And I can’t just throw her out in the cold!” Harry says. He lifts the kitten to face-level. “Don’t worry sweetheart, I’ll take care of you.” He then kisses the tip of her nose and the whole display is sickeningly adorable. 

“You’re both adorable,” Niall says with a teasing lilt. Harry just beams at him.

“Here, you can hold her,” Harry says and hands the kitten to Niall. Niall cautiously takes her and places her in his lap. She sits down and looks up at him with something akin to curiosity. Niall strokes the ridiculously soft fur on her back and she meows cutely. Niall’s heart melts. The small kitten twists it’s face and sniffs to Niall’s hand.

“She seems hungry, did you feed her?” Niall asks and looks over at Harry.

“I poured some milk in a bowl but she barely drank it,” Harry replies.

“I think she needs help,” Niall says.

“Like, bottle-feeding?” Harry asks and takes the kitten back, caressing her. “Right! Do you have a bottle?”

Niall stares blankly at Harry.

“Oh yeah, just look for it’s in my bag with the diapers and baby toys,” He replies sarcastically.

Harry gives him an odd look and Niall groans.

“Of course I don’t have a bottle!”

“Then let’s go buy her one!” Harry says.

“Right now?” Niall says and shoots his watch a glance. He should probably get some homework done.

“Right now! We can also buy her food and a cute collar and a bed and a litter box! We can make a whole trip out of it!” Harry says, growing more and more excited by the second. He looks at Niall with such an eager look that Niall can’t say no. Besides, a small trip to the town is everything he needs at the moment.

“Alright, we’ll go,” Niall says. “We need to change out of our uniforms and get a permission slip from the headmistress.”

“Mmm,” Harry says, distracted by the kitten. “Oh! We should name her! What should we name her?”

“Uh, no idea,” Niall replies.

“I know!” Harry says. “Panda! What about Panda!”

“Panda,” Niall deadpans. “Are you serious?”

“Yes! It fits her, she’s white and black, just like a panda,” Harry grins. 

Niall sighs.

“Whatever.”

“Hi, panda,” Harry says to the kitten, fingers massaging the tiny head. “This is the first day of the rest of your life.”

Just then, the door opens and Niall looks up.

His eyes clashes with a pair of slightly surprised ocean-blue.

Louis.

Niall’s heart stops beating for a moment. Louis stops up in the doorway and stares at Niall. Niall stares right back, trying to read Louis’ eye; trying to find a hint of something, anything. He needs to know if he had a part in what happened last night. But as always, it’s impossible to read Louis. There seems to be a sudden tension in the room that makes Niall go from relaxed to on edge. He knows Louis can feel it too. Harry is too busy playing with the kitten, not even noticing Louis arrival.

Louis breaks eye-contact with Niall and enters the room. Harry finally notices him and he beams. 

“Louuuu! Meet Panda!!” He says rushing over to Louis and practically shoving Panda in his face. Louis stares at the kitten with something close to a horrified expression.

“Get that thing out of my face, Haz,” He says and shrugs off his jacket, hanging it on the closet door. 

“Shhhh! Don’t call her a thing!” Harry says and glares at Louis all the while covering Panda’s ears. “Her name is Panda.”

Louis balls up his already wrinkly tie and throws it in a corner of the room. Niall really hopes he isn’t going to undress.

“I really hope you aren’t planning to keep that in my room,” Louis says, turning back to Harry.

“ _Our_ room,” Harry corrects. “Don’t worry, Niall and I are going to take care of her, we are going to be her daddy and mommy.”

Niall doesn’t even want to comment on that last part. Louis looks amused.

“You won’t even know she’s here, can I keep her?” Harry says. “Pretty please?” He spills his eyes wide open and sticks his bottom lip out in an exaggerated pout, but it has the desired effect. Louis eyes him before giving a resigned sigh.

“Fine, you’re lucky you have a cute face, Harold,” Louis says with a fond tone. Harry beams. “Yay! Love you!” He says and gives Louis a big wet kiss on the mouth. Harry turns to Niall. “Come on, Niall. Go change so we can get going!”

“Where are you going?” Louis asks, throwing a quick glance at Niall.

“Just going to the town to buy Panda some stuff,” Harry says. “Do you want to come?”

Niall really, really hopes Louis doesn’t come; he doesn’t want him to come. As if reading his thoughts, Louis glances at him before looking back at Harry.

“I have something to take care of,” Louis says. Then he proceeds to pop the buttons of his shirt open, revealing more and more of his tanned skin. Niall feels ashamed at the heat in his cheeks and he quickly gets to his feet and hurries out, all the while feeling Louis’ eyes burn into his back.

+

Getting out of school for a few hours to shop for cat stuff for Panda turns out to be exactly what Niall needs. Harry is great fun to hang out with and they only got stopped a few times by fans that recognized Harry despite the shades he wore and the beanie he pulled over his curls, but it was nothing crazy; nothing like that time in New York last year. 

By the time they make it back to school, Niall doesn’t feel as self-loathing as he did when they left. He decides to get some homework done in the library, but that quickly turns out to be a very bad idea. He doesn’t even escape the judgmental looks and whispers in between the rows of books.

There’s this group of freshmen girls sitting a few tables away and they keep whispering and giggling, looking over him every few seconds. It’s driving Niall insane and he doesn’t like to admit it, it makes him increasingly self-conscious as well. He ends up leaving the library half an hour into his failed attempt of studying, deciding to take it to his room instead.

But he doesn’t escape his bad luck that easily.

“Niall!”

Niall freezes in his steps. He didn’t just hear who he thinks he heard, no, she wouldn’t have the nerve. It must have been a trick of the wind; only that there’s no wind, the air is still.

“Niall.”

The voice with the thick exotic accent is right behind him and Niall’s jaw clenches tightly. Unfuckinbelieavable. He doesn’t want to turn around. He knows he might hit her if he sees her face. He is about to walk away when manicured nails digs into his wrists.

Niall yanks his wrist out of her grip and turns to her with storming eyes.

“Don’t fucking touch me,” Niall says, voice angry. And Chanel looks prettier than usual, with her dark hair falling in curls around her defined face; fuck, Niall is going to fucking kill her. “What, do you want to rub it in my face or something?”

Chanel is wise enough to take a safety step back. She eyes Niall with big, nervous eyes. She throws a quick glance around and Niall does the same, finding a couple of groups of people slowly stopping up and staring at them curiously; gossip-hungry bunch.

Chanel has the nerve to step closer to Niall again and say in a hushed tone.

“No, we need to talk, it’s important,” She says, voice urgent. Niall’s left eyebrow twitches.

“I have nothing to say to you-“

“ Well, I have,” Chanel cuts him off much to Niall’s annoyance. “Please, I never meant to hurt you. I had no choice.” 

Niall stares at her. “What are you going on about?”

Chanel throws another glance at their increasing audience before bringing her face even closer to Niall; so close that Niall can’t find a single flaw on her smooth skin. “Niall, you’re the only one clueless here. Everyone is lying to you.”

Niall feels like his world comes to a momentary halt.

“W-what?” He whispers.

Chanel gives him with pity eyes that makes him want to smack her.

“Come to my room before dinner,” Chanel says quietly, looking Niall directly in the eye. “Crenshaw house, floor 3, room A101.”

Before Niall has time to process the information and formulate a reply, she brushes past him, speed-walking away. Niall stands there for a few seconds before he spins around and shouts after her.

“Hey! Wait! Chanel!”

But she’s already too far away and Niall can’t chase after her without the whole fucking school hearing about it and twisting it to some untrue rumor.

 _Everyone is lying to you._ Her words echoes in Niall’s mind and as much to Niall’s frustration it runs as poison through his veins. While Niall knows she could be lying, he still doesn’t know what exactly happened last night. 

And he doesn’t know who or what to believe.

+

After Niall’s encounter with Chanel, he gets zero studying done. He simply can’t concentrate on Khrushchev’s policies or the Chinese revolution when he feels like his life is once again slipping right out of his fingers.

 _Everyone’s lying to you_ is now echoing in his mind like some kind of sick mantra, and he feels like he’s slowly going insane.

He’s walking to dinner, his mind still racing with all kind of thoughts, theories, worst-case-scenarios and he doesn’t see where he’s going so he ends up walking into a couple of girls.

“Hey! Look where you are going!” One of them says, but then they see who they are talking to and their eyes turn scornful.

“Oh look who it is,” The other, less blonde hair, spits.

This is the least Niall needs.

“I still can’t believe you’re still here,” More blond says and eyes Niall disdainfully. 

“What’s the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Niall asks.

“It means,” Less blond says. “You don’t belong in this school and more than anything you don’t belong in privilege house. Everyone knows where you’re coming from, scholarship boy.”

Niall cheeks pink. She says it like it’s the worst insult in the century. Bitch. 

“I don’t even know why Louis brought your sorry ass back,” More Blond says. “And what did Zayn ever see in you? He’s too good for you, you were never worth him. I bet he just pitied you. I mean come on, just look at yourself.” They look him up and down and laugh mockingly. 

Niall swallows back the huge lump that has formed in his throat. Will it be wrong to actually beat these girls down? Niall will never hit a girl but with all the psychotic emotions roiling around inside his chest, they have picked the wrong time to mess with him. The thought of punching More blond crosses Niall’s incoherent mind. He can even hear the exact pitch of her surprised screech. It is not an unamusing visual.

They stare him down and he can feel they are going to say something even more scathing but then all of a sudden all color leaves their features. They look like they’ve seen the devil himself.

“I have to go,” Blonder says and then they almost falls over their heels in the rush they are to get away.

First when they’re gone does Niall feel a rather intimidating presence behind him. He swallows and slowly turns around. He isn’t even surprised to see Louis just coming to a stop behind him. His eyes are icy as they follow the escaping girls. He looks at Niall and his eyes softens a tiny bit.

“Oh. Did I scare off your little friends?” he asks, arching an eyebrow and smirks.

“Uh, apparently,” Niall says, unprepared for Louis actually speaking to him. He swallows again and briefly looks at Louis. “Thanks for that.”

“Some people just don’t know their place,” Louis says. “I’ll have to remind them.”

“What do you mean?” Niall asks, his heart still pounding.

“I mean they don't get to mess with you, princess,” Louis smirks and to Niall’s surprise, slings a friendly arm around his shoulder. “That’s my job. No one else is allowed to.”

Niall laughs dryly. “That makes me so much happier,” he says flatly. He shifts uncomfortably in Louis’ hold; he doesn’t know how to react. Louis hasn’t spared him a glance for the past week and this sudden show of friendliness is suspicious at best.

“So. Are you alright?” Louis inquires. 'You must be so sick of all this crap already."

Niall’s throat closes in on itself; ‘sick’ is such an understatement. He feels exhausted in every definition of the word, he feels he might crumble if he hears another malicious whisper behind his back, he feels like he’s never going to feel okay again; he feels shameful and guilty and close to depressed. His eyes stings with tears and he quickly looks down, not wanting Louis to see, but his voice cracks when he says.

“Yeah…I’m a-alright,” Niall presses his lips into a thin line and looks away from Louis’ blue eyes. Crap, he’s totally going to cry where everyone can see him; he’s going to bawl his eyes out in front of Louis. He sniffs furiously to keep the tears from spilling.

“Niall, get hold of yourself,” Louis says not quite harshly but not quite gently either. 

That just makes it worse and Niall hides his face behind a hand when a tear spills over and trail down his cheek. Louis removes his arm from Niall and for a painful moment, Niall is sure he’s going to walk away. But Louis doesn’t walk away. He closes a hand around his wrist and drag him to the side, under a large tree and mostly hidden from all the curious stares of by-passing students.

“Niall, look at me,” Louis says, clasping his hand around Niall’s shoulder. Niall doesn’t want to and stubbornly stares at his shoes. “Look at me.” There’s a tone in Louis’ voice that Niall can’t ignore so he forces himself to meet Louis’ eyes with his own; shining with unshed tears. Louis looks him in the eye for a moment.

“The worse you can do is let any of the shit people talk about you get to you,” He says. “The _worst_ you can do is let them see they’re getting to you. You cannot listen to what all the little idiots with no lives around here are saying,” Louis says. “Now, I want you to walk out there with your back straight and head held high, _show_ them that you can’t be messed with by anyone. With the exception of me of course,” Louis says with a wry smile. “And just because Zayn was foolish enough to let you go so easily, doesn’t mean you aren’t still a princess.”

Niall actually manages a small laugh. 

“You have such a way with words, don’t you,” He says sarcastically and dries his eyes with the back of his hand.

Louis just smirks at him. Niall studies him; tries to come to some kind of conclusion but Louis is the most complicated puzzle he’s ever come across. No matter what he do, he can never figure out what’s going on in the mind of his and sometimes, he thinks he’s better of now knowing. But he still has to know if Louis had part in last night’s event.

“Louis, do you remember what you told me at the NoBash last year?” Niall asks quietly. Louis raises a brow. “I said a lot of things. Be more specific.”

“You told me there weren’t going to be any more secrets,” Niall says and the whole thing feels like a distant memory; somehow, things had been a lot simpler at that particular moment in time. “No more secrets, remember?”

“Oh yeah, of course I remember,” Louis says with a nod.

Niall takes a deep breath before asking;

“Louis, did you have anything to do with what happened last night?” Niall asks. “With Zayn and Chanel?” 

He holds his breath as he stares at Louis, waiting for the reply that he fears. Louis looks at him and Niall can’t decipher the look in his eyes. Niall’s heart is racing. He needs to know.

“I need to know,” He all but whispers. “Louis, I need to know.”

Louis smiles slowly and Niall can’t decide whether it’s a good smile or a bad one.

“There’s only one thing you need to know, Niall,” Louis says in a hushed tone. “Nothing happens by chance.”

He brings his face dangerously close to Niall; so close, his breath hits Niall’s face in hot puffs, so close, Niall can see every detail of his flawless face, every shade of his blue eyes. So close that Niall’s heart beats so loudly, he’s sure Louis can hear.

Louis smirks and breathes the next words into Niall’s ear.

 

“Everything happens for a reason.”

+

 _Everything happens for a reason_.

What the fuck is _that_ supposed to mean? Niall is beyond frustrated. He doesn’t understand. All he wants is the truth. Is that too much to ask about? why does everyone has to be so cryptic? Don’t they know how to give a straight answer? Niall is getting sick of feeling like he’s the only one not knowing what’s going on.

That’s why he goes to Chanel’s room after dinner as she told him. He just wants to hear what she has to say, that’s all. 

He follows a group of girls into the dorm and ignores their slightly scandalized looks. He heads to the elevator, his whole body shaking for some unknown reason. He gets to Chanel’s floor and easily find her room. A couple of girls in the halls stare at him like he’s crazy. Which he probably is. They begin to pull their phones out and Niall knows the news will be all over school by the time he’s done here.

He takes a deep breath and knocks twice on the door. And wait. And waits. Nobody opens. He frowns and knocks on the door again. He checks the room number; it should be this one, this should be Chanel’s room or is she just messing with him.

“Hey,” he stops a girl that is walking past him. She looks at him with big eyes. “Is this Chanel’s room?”

“Yes,” She nods. “But she-“

Before she can finish her sentence, Niall pushes the door open and what meets him, is the least he expected. The room is empty. Completely and utterly empty; bare for anything but the school’s furniture. Niall’s throat feels dry and he slowly turns to look at the girl still standing behind him.

“Where is she?” He asks dreadfully.

“I tried to tell you,” The girl says. “She packed her things and left just an hour ago.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me where all you lovely people are from, I'm curious :)


	8. Chapter 8

Niall stares unblinkingly at the dark ceiling of his room. He glances at the alarm clock on his nightstand. He sighs when he sees the big, fat red number reading 2;30 am.

He can’t sleep. Haven’t been able to after coming back from the girls’ dormitory and discovering that Chanel is gone; it concerns him, he’s actually worried about the girl he’s supposed to hate. The girl who’d told him she left hadn’t been able to give him more info other than she looked upset. 

Chanel mysteriously disappearing after telling him she needed to talk to him is suspicious; very much so. Niall can’t help but think Louis has a part in this. Especially since Louis never gave him a strange answer; did ‘everything happens for a reason’ supposed to mean yes or no? What exactly is going on here? Niall thought he’d outgrown his role as ‘that blond, naïve kid that is so gullible and clueless’, but history seems to be repeating itself. 

This whole situation is giving him a strong sense of Déjà vu. Chanel reminds him of Jessica. They’d both told him they’d been forced to do what they did and that he was being lied to; Jessica had been right and as much as Niall doesn’t want to believe it - for the sake of his fragile sanity - he fears Chanel had been about to tell him something and for that reason, she got booted out of school.

The whole thing screams ‘Louis’ at the top of its lungs. But even then, a part of Niall is in denial, doesn’t want to be believe Louis would do that to him. What had all the friendliness today been about then? Is he laughing behind that annoyingly sexy smirk of his? Laughing at Niall after ruining the best thing in his life and now acting like his friend again? The thought makes Niall want to throw up. He doesn’t want it to be true and that’s the reason he keeps coming up for other explanation, but none of them fits like Louis putting him through hell.

And he still doesn’t understand why Louis would put him through that. And even if he hated Niall’s guts, would he really put Zayn through that? Are they all just toys he plays with for his own amusement?

Oh God, he misses Zayn so God damn much and it hasn’t even been 24 hours. He misses the way he looks at him, that special smile he only gives Niall, the way he holds him with his arms; even if Louis had been behind all this, then Niall could’ve prevented losing Zayn if he hadn’t exchanged saliva with Zayn’s best friend; which is Louis has nothing to do with and is entirely Niall’s fault.

Niall rubs his hands into his watering eyes; no, he can’t have himself cry now. Zayn and he are going to get back together. Zayn just needs some time and then they’ll be together again before Niall knows of it. Because if this really is the end then he might… Niall shakes his head; he doesn’t want to think of that scenario.

Niall sighs and throws his blanket aside. He glances at the clock; it’s slowly advancing 3 in the morning. Seems like tomorrow is going to be one of those days were his blood is going to be switched with caffeine. He sighs and gets out of bed; he needs some fresh air. 

The closes place he can get fresh air is on the downstairs porch of the common room, so he makes his way downstairs in his ratty, old sleeping shirt and shorts. The whole house is eerily quiet, everyone is sleeping and Niall feel envious; he wishes he could sleep as well.

He gets out of the elevator at the bottom floor, the pling sound it makes sounding ridiculously loud in the quiet. He makes his way through the dark, empty common room and he frowns when he notices the glass, sliding door out to the porch; seems like someone forgot to close it. He steps out and is surprised by how unusual warm the air is; looks like it’s going to be a warm spring and hot summer this year.

It’s first when he takes another step that he notices he isn’t alone. He has a mini heart-attack when he sees someone leaning up against a pillar. He lets out an embarrassing squeak, his hand flying up to his heart, eyes wide. The figure moves and for a second, Niall thinks he’s going to get murdered by a burglar, but then he sees who it is.

And his heart stops beating.

“Z-Zayn?” He stutters.

Zayn is looking at him with an equally surprised look. His hair is messy and without the usual hair-product, it is falling over his big eyes in soft strands. He’s wearing a rumpled sweatshirt - that particular red sweatshirt that Niall _loves_ on him - and pajama bottoms and a pair of mismatching socks on his feet.

Niall’s stupid heart immediately yearns to touch Zayn and the fact that he can’t just touch Zayn breaks him a little more inside.

Niall then notices the cigarette dangling from his perfect lips and a frown form on his forehead; Zayn doesn’t smoke, unless it’s a special occasion like a party or celebration. Niall glances at the ash tray balancing on the porch’s parapet and his heart sped a little up when he sees what looks like Zayn chain-smoking 3’o’clock in the freaking morning.

“You’re smoking,” is all Niall can say, his voice cautious. Zayn stares at him, his face a little blank before with a ‘tch’ turning away and inhaling the smoke. 

“As observant as ever,” He says sarcastically. He looks annoyed. Niall guess Zayn still isn’t ready to look at him without looking like he wants strangle him. 

But this, this must be a sign, right? What are the odds that both Niall and Zayn can’t sleep and end up on the porch at this ungodly hour? Maybe Zayn is as torn up by their break-up as Niall is. Niall can only hope. He slowly makes his way next to Zayn. He feels Zayn’s whole body tense, so he stops up a few feet away.

“Are you alright?” He asks quietly.

Zayn glares at him.

“Why wouldn’t I be alright?” He snaps. Niall swallows. Alright, maybe it isn’t a wise decision to talk at this hour of the morning. But when is he ever going to get a chance like this?

“Zayn, can we talk?” He asks.

“We have said everything there is to say to each other, Niall,” Zayn grumbles, not looking at him. “There’s nothing more to be said.”

“You never allowed me to talk, though,” Niall persist. “You never gave me a chance to explain.” 

“There’s nothing to explain,” Zayn replies. Niall sighs softly and discreetly studies Zayn’s profile; oh how he wishes he could just kiss him and everything would work out by itself. Niall wonders idly if Zayn knows about Chanel’s disappearance. Most probably not. A selfish part of Niall is happy Chanel isn’t there anymore. At least he doesn’t have to see Zayn with her.

“Zayn, please, will you just-“

“ _No_ ,” Zayn’s voice is quite but forceful. He finishes the cigarette and throws the bud in the ash tray. He turns to look at Niall with hard eyes. “I don’t want to talk to you. I don’t want to talk to you ever again.” 

Niall’s heart hurts when Zayn turns on his heels, and Niall thinks he can’t let him go just yet; he just can’t. And that’s why he utters those three little words;

“I love you.”

Zayn freezes. Niall doesn’t move. Neither of them moves in what feels like millennium, but then Zayn laughs; a horrible, humorless laugh that makes a cold, unpleasant shiver run down Niall’s spine. Zayn turns around again and looks at Niall with eyes Niall doesn’t recognize. Zayn is suddenly crowding into Niall’s space, and Niall finds himself pressed into a cold pillar. 

“You love me,” Zayn repeats in a flat voice. He is standing so close to Niall that Niall can smell the heavy smell of smoke on Zayn’s breath; Niall can barely breathe, something in Zayn’s eyes scares him witless. Zayn scoffs.

Zayn’s voice is quiet with his next words, but none the less piercing.

“Don’t you think I haven’t noticed the way you look at Louis?” 

Niall goes complete cold at those words, like someone dumped an ice-bucket over his head. Zayn’s lips twists up in something close to a smile but not quite.

“You are so fucking obvious, Niall,” Zayn says quietly and his fingers suddenly comes up to trail down Niall’s cheek; they’re as icy as Niall feels. “But here’s the thing.”

“Louis is never going to treat you right,” Zayn says and Niall looks away, takes a gulp of air. “You two deserve each other.”

And with that, Zayn turns on his heels and stalks off.

Leaving Niall regretting ever getting out of his bed.

+

Niall stares at Louis over the breakfast table that morning the cafeteria. He stares at him as he laughs along with something the boy next to him, Jeremy said. He looks so carefree and perfect; his hair still damp from the morning shower, his skin glowing healthily, eyes crinkling at the corners. 

 

Niall wants to stab him in that perfect face of his with the fork he’s currently white-knuckling in his hand. (Niall has barely closed an eye last night and the possibility of him hitting Louis has never been higher)

How dare he look so happy when he’d left Niall’s life in pieces; Niall has no doubt, Louis has been behind it all this time. It’s his entire fault. It’s his fault that Zayn is never going to look at him the same way again, it’s his fault that Niall’s gaze lingers on him; his fault for having those stupid eyes and that stupid smile.

Niall hates him. 

Hates that he has that ridiculous power over this whole school, hates him for having everyone under his thumb, hates him for being a manipulative liar. 

Louis looks at him. He eyes the fork in his hand before raising a perfectly shaped brow.

“Why am I receiving strong killer vibes from you?” He says with a joking smile. Niall’s lips twist up in a fake smile. 

“It must be your imagination,” He replies dryly. Louis stares at him. Niall stares right back with cold eyes.

“What’s your problem?” Louis asks then, voice hushed and eyes narrowed as he leans over the table. Niall bristles. His hand shakes slightly and he swears, he would have stabbed Louis and showed him just what his problem was if something hadn’t caught his attention.

Zayn enters the cafeteria and Niall looks up. His tense body goes weak when he sees some other girl hanging on him. She has short brown hair and way too much eye-makeup. Several buttons of her shirt is undone and her skirt is way too short to be an acceptable uniform. What is Zayn doing with his hand on the waist of this…this _slut_?

She is flirting with him, flipping her hair exaggeratedly and giggling. Niall’s body tense up again and his jaw clenches. Zayn catches his eyes and Niall realizes he is doing this on purpose. Fuck him. All Niall wants is to get up and just leave, but damn him if he gives Zayn that satisfaction. When he’s finally able to tear his eyes from Zayn, he sees Louis looking at Zayn as well; his gaze unreadable. Niall bet he’s mentally patting himself on the shoulder for a job well done.

Fuck him too. Fuck them both. Who needs them anyway?

He turns to Harry who is stupid enough to take panda to the cafeteria, claiming she’s afraid to be alone and right now, all the girls at the table are cooing at the kitten who frankly looks frightening by all the attention and is currently curled up under Harry’s shirt (What a brilliant way of hiding her. hah.) and Harry looks like a proud father; beats Niall how none of the teachers have noticed yet.

Niall turns away and his traitorous gaze floats back to Zayn and the girl and his blood boils as the girl touches Zayn’s hair. He forces himself to look away and his eyes randomly meet Liam. Liam blushes and looks away. God, Niall hates him too. Hates him for being such a coward that can’t even talk to Niall about what happened; or is he the only one who thinks they ought to talk about it? and why the fuck did he tell Danielle? Niall glances behind him at the table right behind where Danielle and several other girls are sitting; including Perrie. And Niall wouldn’t be surprised if they’re all conspiring against him. Fuck them too. It’s not his fault their boyfriends rather crawl on top of him instead of them.

Basically, he hates everyone. (Except Harry and Panda; they’re still tolerable.)

+

“I used last night on grading your papers so you can get them back already today,” Mrs. Watson says and the whole class groans. Niall just feels a big ball of dread blocking his airways.

This can’t be happening.

He isn’t ready to get his French paper back, usually Mrs. Watson uses at least a week on grading so why, oh why did she have to grade them overnight this one time when Niall is sure he isn’t going to get his usual A? He needs some more time to mentally prepare himself. He isn’t ready for this.

“Some of you did better, while some of you didn’t do as good as you used to,” Mrs. Watson says as she walks around the class handing back their test. And Niall swears she glances at him when she says that and that doesn’t help the turmoil of emotions inside of him. He is already breaking out in cold sweat. He’s never been more nervous and dreadful to get back a test; it’s the only thing he’s had 100% confidence in. He hears a boy a few desks away groan and bang his head against his desk; Niall has a strong feeling he’s going to mirror that reaction.

Oh God. Mrs. Watson is walking towards him and his heart is beating at a psychotic rate; he thinks it might stop beating once he sees his grade. Mrs. Watson stop at his table and looks at his paper. Niall squirms.

“Niall, you didn’t do so well as usual, but don’t let that get to you, I know you’re an excellent student,” she smiles kindly and puts the paper down next to him. Niall stares at the letter at the top corner. His throat feels dry.

**C+**

That’s the only thing he can see for the rest of the class; he doesn’t hear a thing Mrs. Watson says, and the page he opened to take notes remains blank. He doesn’t notice the worried looks Mrs. Watson throws his way under the class. He just stares at that C+ while he feels something inside of him crumbling.

This can’t be true.

+

Niall waits for all his class-mates to leave the class before making his way to Mrs. Watson’s desk. She’s writing something down so he stands patiently to the side and waits for her to notice him. When she does, she smiles and takes of her small, round glasses.

“Niall, what can I help you with?” She asks kindly.

“I need a retake,” He blurts.

She raises an eyebrow. His heart races.

“I can’t have a C+,” Niall says, voice desperate. “The test counts for my final grade. I need an A. please, can I somehow make up for that test?”

His mentality depends on her reply. Niall stares at her with pleading eyes.

“Niall, I know this test wasn’t your best, but I can’t give you another chance without it being unfair for the others,” Mrs. Watson says. “Besides, you have all straight A’s, this grade won’t change your final score, especially not if you do well from here on.”

She doesn’t understand. Niall can’t have this C+ on his flawless record; he just _can’t_. Getting perfect grades is the only thing he does good; it’s what he does _best_ , it’s his _thing_. This will only ruin it. 

“Please, Mrs. Watson, I’ll do anything,” He begs. “I can do extra curriculum to make up for it, just anything to erase that C+”

Mrs. Watson studies him with small worried eyes.

“Niall, it’s just one C+, you clearly had a bad day, you’re only human and I can’t expect less of you,” She says. “I assure you, this isn’t going to have a major impact on you and I repeat, I can’t give you special treatment.”

“But-“

“Go have lunch, Niall,” She cuts him off a little sharply but smiles. “Don’t get hung up on one bad grade, it’s not healthy.”

Niall has to turn away and walk out so she doesn’t see the tears in his eyes.

+

Niall races out of the class-building doing everything in his might not to break down in public. His heart is racing and his breath is ragged. All he can see in his mind is that god-forsaken C+.

And as if things weren’t bad enough, he sees Zayn with that girl. He comes to an abrupt halt and stares. The girl is leaning up against a big tree, smiling seductively up at Zayn while Zayn is hovering over her, a smirk unlike him on his lips. And then, as if sensing Niall’s eyes, he looks directly at him. 

The thing Zayn does next might as well be a big ‘fuck you’ to Niall. Zayn leans down and kisses the girl, there where everyone can see; right there in front of Niall.

And Niall feels his world drop from under his feet.

+

Niall feels borderline depressed. He skips the rest of his classes; which is a thing he’s never done before and spends it buried under his blanket and crying until his eyes are red and sore.

Everything and everywhere hurts.

Coming back has officially proved to be the biggest mistake of his life; if he’d gone to New York with Greg he wouldn’t have found himself caught up in constant drama, he wouldn’t be manipulated and played by a boy who is supposed to be his friend, he wouldn’t have to watch Zayn with his tongue in another girl’s mouth.

And by the end of the day, the joke is on Niall. He’s the one who gives his trust too easily, he is the one who puts himself up for failure and now, it’s affecting his academic future. 

That is the last straw.

He can’t take it anymore. Something has to change. but right now, he doesn’t even feel like changing out of his uniform, doesn’t care that it gets all rumpled and wrinkly; he just doesn’t _care_ anymore.

+

Harry comes and checks on him when classes are over and Niall hasn’t moved an inch. The only reason he isn’t crying, being his eyes has run dry. When Harry comes and sits by his bed, Niall tells him to leave him alone. 

“But, Panda and I are worried about you,” Harry says and Niall feels him trying to tug the blanket off of him, but Niall has an iron grip on it; he doesn’t want Harry to see him crying. “She’s right here.”

As if on cue, Panda meows and Niall feels a small pressure on his head. “She wants you to come out of there,” Harry says. Niall doesn’t reply, just clenches his eyes shut and prays Harry will just disappear.

“Do you want to talk?” Harry asks. 

“No,” Niall replies flatly.

There’s a beat of silence and Niall thinks for a second that Harry will leave.

“Is this about Zayn?” Harry asks quietly.

Just the name is enough to summon a set of fresh tears in his eyes. 

“I…I just need to be alone,” He whispers, voice cracking a little. “Please, Harry. just leave me alone.”

Harry is silent for one long moment.

“Okay,” he says to Niall’s relief. “But I’ll be back later.”

Niall’s body relaxes when he hears Harry leave.

+

“Hello?”

“Niall! You haven’t called in days! How are you, bud?”

Niall feels even worse hearing his father’s voice and it fills him with home-sickness and longing. He takes a deep breath and tries to control himself.

“I’m good, dad,” He says. “How are you and mom?”

“Actually,” his father says and Niall notices that he sounds happier than he’s heard him be in years. “We’re both very good.” Niall hears a female voice in the background; his mother. “Yes, it’s Niall calling,” his father’s hushed voice says. “Niall, your mother wants to speak to you.”

Niall is more than a little taken aback. His mother hasn’t spoken to him over the phone since he entered the school last semester. He automatically feels dreadful; the last thing he needs right now is a tearing down by his own mother.

“O-Ok,” he says, voice shaking slightly. He gulps down air and waits for the worst.

“Niall, sweetheart?” Niall’s hand tightens around his phone. His mother sounds…different. not manic, not angry, not depressed. She sounds, dare Niall say it, _normal_ , albeit a little unsure. And she called him _sweetheart_ , she hasn’t called him that since she began going on the pills.

“M-Mom?” he whispers, too scared to jump to conclusion; he can’t bear one more disappointment. 

“Oh, my little baby, it’s so good to hear your voice,” his mother says and her voice sounds watery and emotional. Niall feels tears spring up in his eyes; this is too good to be true. “How are you, sweetheart? How is school?”

Wrong question. Niall feels himself choke up and he has to remove the phone from his mouth so his mother doesn’t hear his ragged breathing. He closes his eyes and tries to summon some semblance of self-control. He can’t bawl his eyes out, not now, not when it seems like he’s got his mother back.

“I-I’m good, mom, I’m good,” He repeats and runs a shaky hand through his hair. “And you? You sound…you sound good.”

“Yes, sweetheart,” His mother says. “I…I decided to get some help. I am so sorry for what I’ve put you, Greg and your father through. I’m so sorry, sweetheart. I promise to get my life back on track, it’s the least I can do for this family. I just feel so ashamed,” his mother’s voice hitches a little and Niall knows she is about to cry. Hell, he’s about to cry himself.

“Mom, that’s good, that’s really good, I’m so proud of you,” Niall says quietly and he feels a smile breaking through; albeit his shitty day, this is the best thing that can ever happen to him. He’s been praying for years for his mother to get her life sorted out and finally it seems his prayer has been heard. “I’m so happy.”

“Me too, sweetheart, I miss my little baby, are you coming to visit the coming break?” His mother asks. Niall smiles, his eyes teary. “Of course, mom, of course I’m coming.”

“I can’t wait,” His mother says.

And Niall talk to her for another hour before he hangs up, and once he hangs up, he sees everything a little clearer. He falls back down on his bed and stares at the ceiling. Speaking to his parents reminds him where he is from and why he is here to begin with. He didn’t come to be caught up in drama, he didn’t come to fool around with every boy he found remotely hot and he sure as hell didn’t come to be a pawn in some sick-twisted game.

He came to change his life, he came to built up his features and somehow, along the way, he forgot that. He got too caught up in petty things and it’s time he straightened his life.

+

Niall is lying on the bed, with his back to the door and planning out what he is going to do next when the door opens. He automatically thinks it’s Conrad, so he doesn’t bother turning around, settling with a small;

“Hey.”

He doesn’t get any answer immediately and a second later his bed dips under the weight of whoever has joined him. Niall is sure it’s Harry but then a way too familiar cologne reaches his nose and he tenses.

“Are you going to be holed up in here forever?” Louis asks and Niall’s jaw clenches tightly. He doesn’t bother to reply. He feels Louis making himself comfortable next to him. “Hey, when you’re done acting like it’s the world’s end, then you can come with me this weekend.”

He’s got to be kidding. Louis is clearly _begging_ for Niall to punch him. What makes him think Niall would even consider going anywhere with him?

Louis’ hand is suddenly on his hip and Niall doesn’t make a movement; lies perfectly still, can’t even believe what is happening right then. “You clearly needs some time away from here, princess,” Louis says and why the _fuck_ is his mouth so close to Niall’s ears? “We can go to New York,” Louis breathes hotly into his ear and Niall treacherous body reacts with a slight shiver. “I never got to show you my favorite places.”

Louis’ fingers lightly dances down to his thigh and the touch is barely there, but Niall feels a burn in the pit of his stomach and he _hates_ himself for it. 

“But if you don’t feel like going out in the city, then we could always find something else to do,” Louis voice drops to a husky whisper. “Something that doesn’t require moving out of my bedroom.” Louis fingers digs into Niall’s thigh with that.

And the implication of Louis’ words is crystal clear. It fills Niall with anger, burning white and surging through the whole of his tense body. _how fucking dare he_.

Niall jerks out of Louis’ hold as if burned and gets to his feet. His fisted hands are shaking as he turns to look at a confused-looking Louis, and _God_ he’s never wanted to hit anyone more in his life. Niall uses every ounce of self-control he has not to hit Louis across his stupid face.

“I’m going to take a long shower,” Niall says, voice wavering with anger and looks Louis straight in the eye. “When I come out I expect you to be gone.” 

Without waiting for Louis’ reaction, Niall storms into the bathroom and slams the door closed behind him.

+

When Niall comes out of the bathroom, dripping-wet, Louis is gone and Niall has come to a serious decision.

He finds his phone and dials a number. 

“Hey, Hunter,” He says when it’s picked up. “Is the room next to yours still available?”

+

Niall’s hands are occupied by a box so he has to more or less kick the door open. He’s very pleased that Zayn is there and Liam is there as well. Their gaze snaps toward him, both set of eyes looking at the box in Niall’s hand.

Zayn is sitting on his bed and drawing something on his sketchpad while Liam is sitting by his desk and typing what seems like a biology report into his laptop. They stop up what they are doing and stare at Niall.

Niall walks in and drops the box by Zayn’s bed. Zayn looks down at the content of the box blankly before slowly looking back at Niall. Niall looks back at him with emotionless eyes.

“That’s all your stuff,” Niall says and gestures to the box. “I want everything that’s mine back. You have 10 minutes.”

Zayn looks like he has something to say but Niall doesn’t let him. He shoots a quick glance at Liam who’s pretending he isn’t watching, but obviously is. Niall spins on his heels and walk back out, slamming the door closed behind him.

+

“We don’t have to come back for more, I have all my clothes in my bags,” Niall says and looks at Hunter. “You sure you can carry all those by yourself?”

Hunter is carrying a pile of Niall’s boxes and he gives him a smile.

“I’m okay,” he says.

“Good,” Niall smiles and nods. He turns around to look at his side of the room, which is now completely bare of his belongings; Conrad is going to be so confused when he gets back from wherever he is, but he’ll probably find out where and why he’s decided to leave.

“What exactly do you think you’re doing?”

Niall spins around and his jaw clenches, his eyes hardening. Louis is leaned up against the doorframe into Niall’s room with his arms crossed and eyes narrowed into slits. He gives Hunter a death glare before glaring at Niall.

“I’m moving, obviously” Niall deadpans. “Let’s go, Hunter.”

“Wait just a fucking minute,” Louis says and walks into the room. “Put those down and get the fuck out, he is going nowhere with you.” Louis sneers at Hunter. Hunter looks toward Niall uncertainly, and Niall admires him for not doing what Louis told him in a heartbeat; a thing 99% of this school would have done.

“Just give us a minute, Hunter,” Niall smiles and gives Hunter a nod. Hunter nods, glances at a livid-looking Louis and walks out.

“What the fuck,” Louis growls, crowding into Niall’s personal space and glares him in the eye; if it had been a few months back, Niall would’ve crumbled under that glare, but time has changed. Niall returns Louis’ glare with his own. The tension in the room is so thick, Niall feels like he’s breathing it, like it’s filling him up and every nerve of his body is on edge.

“I’m going to break this down for you, Louis,” Niall says with a sneer. “From here on out, I want nothing to do with privilege house, but more than anything, I want nothing to do with _you_.” Niall drinks up Louis’ flabbergasted expression, uses it to fuel his anger. “From now on, we aren’t friends, we aren’t even enemies, from now on, we’re _nothing_.” Louis’ jaw clenches tightly and his eyes become a sea in storm. It doesn’t intimidate Niall as it would’ve done under different circumstances; it _joys_ him, gives him this kind of sick thrill that he can get that expression out of Louis. “We’re nothing but strangers.” Niall says quietly with a voice of finality. “And I can’t wait till you graduate this summer, then I won’t have to tolerate looking at your face every fucking day,” Niall spits and Louis looks like he’s going to hit him; Niall _wants_ Louis to hit him, just so he won’t be the one to throw the first punch. “Goodbye, Louis.”

He turns around but Louis’ hand shoots up and catches his elbow in a tight, bruising grip. Niall is yanked back so he’s practically pressed up against Louis. Louis looks down at him with murderous eyes.

“No, you can’t,” He hisses. “You _can’t_ do that.”

And Niall catches it; he catches the barely there, almost invisible uncertainty in Louis’ eyes. And that’s what gives Niall that last bit of determination and courage he needs. He leans closer to Louis so their faces are inches apart; their lips a breath away from touching. Niall looks Louis dead in the eyes and whispers a soft;

“Watch me.”

He lingers behind for just enough to get satisfaction from the expression on Louis’ face, and then he turns on his heels and saunters out without looking back.


	9. Chapter 9

Niall feels good about his decision and he feels good about himself as well. He should’ve done this from the beginning, he should’ve realized that the root of his problems is privilege house and pretty much everyone associated with it.

Especially Louis.

And that expression on Louis’ face when Niall told him off, that speechless expression is something Niall will treasure; it isn’t often you see the ‘great’ Louis Tomlinson out of words. At this point, Niall doesn’t care what Louis will do to him.

The only one he cares about in that house is Harry; and Panda of course. Niall had barely made himself comfortable in his old/new room at Drake before Harry had sent him a message.

_”Where r yooooooooooou? m’ sad :( an’ panda is sad too’’_

Niall had sent back a text;

_”I moved out, talk tomorrow. Love you x ‘’_

And Harry had replied;

_” nooooo :( a’right. love you 10x more xxxxxxxxx.”_

Yeah, Harry is definitely his favorite; he’d thought Liam was, but he had heard nothing from said boy. The vast difference is that Liam actually care what the people around here say to him and as a student president it might be understandable that it kills him people are talking shit about him for ‘cheating’ on Danielle. But that doesn’t mean he can just avoid Niall to please everyone, thus including Zayn.

Speaking of Zayn, Niall believes he did them both a huge favor; now they will have considerably less run-ins, and while Niall probably won’t escape seeing him at least twice everyday in the cafeteria, it still a huge improvement from seeing him just around the hall every other second. At least now, he won’t be caught off guard. 

So, yeah, Niall is happy with his decision.

+

 

It’s a beautiful day the next morning. The sky is an artificial-looking blue without a cloud to be spotted and the air is warmer than it ever has been for the last few months; spring is definitely in the air. It’s actually so warm that Niall doesn’t need a jacket and is perfectly fine in his navy blue uniform sweater. 

He is walking with Hunter and three other boys from his dorm; he glances at them and tries to recall their names; There’s Luke, who’s really small and wearing large glasses, he’s all nervous smiles and constantly touches his face or hair with fidgeting fingers. There’s Adam with the light-brown skin with really cool short, dreadlocks and he has huge headphones around his head and keeps humming along to the song he’s listening to; he hasn’t stopped since they left the dorm. And then there’s Zhao, tiny Chinese boy who is constantly texting on his phone and somehow manages not to trip or run into someone; Niall suspects he has radar built inside of him.

Much to Niall’s sweet relief, they didn’t scorn him or give him nasty looks when they saw him with Hunter. Their looks were only ones of wariness and curiosity. And since they don’t mind walking with Niall to breakfast, Niall guesses they don’t care what people say about him; or at least he hopes so.

They are all a little odd, but hey, Niall has been friends with murderous psychopaths and insane manipulative assholes so he thinks he can handle a little odd; he needs new friends, obviously.

“You’re smiling,” Hunter says, looking at him. Niall feels himself grin. “I just feel very good,” Niall replies with a shrug. “You really are special, Niall,” Hunter says with an amused smile and shakes his head. “I don’t think anyone has outright told Louis they don’t want to be friends with him. I mean, everyone in this school is practically falling head over heels to just _talk_ to him.”

“99.99% of the school, don’t say everyone,” Zhao says without talking his eyes off his slim-lined phone.

Hunter rolls his eyes with a fond smile.

“Zhao has this thing for statistics,” Hunter stage-whispers to Niall. Niall smiles and tries to file away the way Hunter had pronounced his name, Niall is afraid he might pronounce it wrong.

“Details, not statistics,” Zhao corrects. “My thing is details.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say,” Hunter says dismissively. They reach the cafeteria and Hunter gives Niall a look. “You ready?” He asks with a wry smile, and Niall nods. “Of course.”

Hunter pushes open the door and they walk in. The first thing Niall notices is that while most of privilege house is there sitting at their usual table at the center of the cafeteria, Louis, Harry, Liam and Zayn are yet to arrive. Niall feels disappointed. He’d hoped they’d all be there and see for themselves that he really is done with them, that he has moved on from their suffocating lies and drama and betrayal. Oh well, they’ll still see him when they walk in.

Niall follows the Drake boys to their table and drops down in the seat next to Luke and the boy throws him a glance with big eyes behind his glass and then he seems to fidget more than usual; Niall has a feeling he makes the boy uncomfortable.

They place their orders and wait for their breakfast to arrive. Hunter leans over the table and looks at Niall. “So, Niall, are you going to tell us what made you leave privilege house?”

Niall knew they’d been dying to ask him, but he’d hoped it wouldn’t be so soon.

They all turn curious eyes on him, even Adam take off his headphones in favor of looking at Niall. Niall leans closer to them and says in a conspiratorial whisper; “Well, I just realized people there weren’t worth my time. Especially, Louis.” they all stare at him in intrigue so he decides to humor them; “if you ask me, then Louis needs to be brought down a notch or two. Why is everyone letting him walk all over them? Since when did this school become a dictatorship? I mean come on, no one can say anything bad about the fantastic Louis Tomlinson without paying for it-“

“Shhhhh,” Luke cuts him off with a frantic hush. The boy looks around with wide eyes, before looking at Niall. “Somebody might hear you.”

Hunter bursts out laughing and his laugh is so contagious, soon the whole table is laughing safe Luke who’s face becomes such a deep red, it would put a tomato to shame.

“That’s exactly what I mean,” Niall chuckles and shakes his head. “It’s ridiculous. He’s isn’t even all that, trust me, I’ve spent too much time with him under the same roof.”

“Not surprised man, not surprised,” Adam says with a shake of his head and put his headphones back on. Just as the waiter arrives with their breakfast does the door go up and Louis and Harry along with a few other boys walk in. 

It’s eerie, Niall admits that, how Louis immediately finds him with his eyes. Louis gives him a very bored look but Niall knows him well enough to know it’s probably covering up for a pissed expression. Harry on the other hand beams when he sees him and is about to walk toward him. Harry doesn’t go far before Louis grabs his wrist and stops him. Niall watches them closely. Harry looks confused at Louis and Louis says something to Harry, then Harry frowns and glances at Niall. Harry looks conflicted but in the end, he follows Louis to their usual table. 

Niall’s jaw clenches. Louis is an asshole, and Niall isn’t going to let him drive Harry and him apart.

“So, how would you bring Louis down a notch or two?” Hunter asks, snapping Niall out of his staring. Niall looks at Hunter before he gets an idea and he smirks. “By showing him that not everyone is going to bow down at his feet.”

Liam is the next one to arrive and he’s surprisingly alone and looks surprisingly miserable. His usual ironed and well-kept uniform is wrinkly and rumpled, like he’d slept in it and he looks like he hasn’t closed an eye, if the dark circles under his eyes are any indication. Liam looks smaller than usual and his confident stance is gone, he’s nearly dragging his feet and ungracefully drops down in a seat by the privilege table. Niall hates himself for feeling a twinge of worry. He sees Harry shoot Liam a worried look as well.

Zayn is the next one to arrive and unlike his roommate, he looks fresh and awake and so good-looking that Niall considers walking over and kicking him in the nuts, just for looking so good when Niall can’t have him. And this time, he has a new girl by his arm, this one looking just as slutty as the former, if not more. What the hell is Zayn doing? If this is an attempt to make their ex-relationship feel irrelevant then he’s doing a good job; making it look like Niall can easily be replaced by those girls. Fuck him. Niall reminds himself that he’s moving on and Zayn can do whatever the fuck he wants. Niall doesn’t care anymore. Except he does, but he’s working on it. So he tears his eyes away and engages in the conversation going on at the table.

+

By the time lunch arrives, Niall is in a good mood. He just got his 10-page History Paper back and he’s proud to say that he got a big, fat A+ and the teacher even praised him for a job well done. The best part had been that Zayn is also in that class and Niall knew Zayn had gotten a B, which just makes it that much better. Especially because Zayn had looked beyond annoyed when the teacher praised Niall in front of the class, saying they should all ask Niall to send them a copy so they could see how it was done. Niall is never going to send Zayn a copy; that dick.

He runs into Louis and Harry at the café, and Harry immediately runs over and engulfs Niall in a tight hug. Niall looks at Louis over Harry’s shoulder and Louis has his arms crossed while watching them with an irritated expression, and Niall smirks at him. Louis’ eyes narrows dangerously at that.

“Harry,” Louis says. “Let’s go.”

Harry releases Niall to look at Louis, but Niall doesn’t quite release Harry, still having an arm around his back. Louis gives him deathly glare; Niall retaliates with an innocent smile. Harry’s gaze ping-pongs between them nervously. He can doubtlessly feel the tension the air, so tight and stretched that it might snap any second. 

“Harry, come sit with me,” Niall says and gives Harry his sweetest smile. 

“Harry,” Louis says slowly with an edge that can cut steel. “Come here.”

Niall’s eyes narrow for a fraction of a second; Louis is talking to Harry like he’s a dog, Niall hopes Harry can hear that. Niall tightens his hold on Harry, just in case he actually decides to go to Louis. Louis’ nostrils flare. Harry keeps looking forth and back at Louis and Niall, obviously at a loss for what to do.

Niall knows he’s pushing his luck; he knows if it comes down to him and Louis, Harry is obviously going to chose Louis; they’ve known each other longer and probably share a stronger bond. Though, Niall isn’t doing this because he is sure Harry is going to choose him, he’s doing it to piss Louis off; plainly and simply. Niall won’t admit it; but he loves the way Louis’ face twists in anger, the way the blue in his eyes seems to be on fire, the way his nose flares. Yup, he definitely wants to push Louis to his limits. The consequences might be disastrous for him, but Niall has stopped caring.

“Haz, don’t be stupid now,” Louis says, his lips twisting up in a mocking smile. Niall gives Louis a short glare. He glances at Harry, and Niall takes pity on him. Harry is the last person who deserves to be put in this situation. Niall has gotten the reaction he wanted from Louis, so he decides to back off. For now.

“It’s alright, Harry, I’ll see you later, yea?” Niall smiles and then he gives Harry a quick peck on the cheek. Louis looks like he’s going to lunge forward and strangle him, so Niall quickly slips into the cafeteria. Thankfully, he finds Hunter in there and joins him.

“What are you grinning at?” Hunter asks amused.

“The day is just getting better and better,” Niall replies with a smirk.

+

Niall isn’t in the least surprised when Louis corners him later that day. In fact, he has been expecting it, _anticipated_ it even. He’s on his way to the library when Louis materialize out of thin air, grabs his collar and drags him behind the girls’ dormitory and slams him so hard up against the brick wall, the air is knocked out of Niall and his books drops to the ground.

“You little _shit_ ,” Louis sneers into his face.

“What,” Niall wheezes as he tries to regain the breath he’d lost. Niall looks at Louis with big, innocent eyes. “You aren’t going to hit me are you?” he says in a mock-fearful voice; he’ll push until Louis snaps, he doesn’t care what happens after that.

Louis closes his hand around his collar so tightly, Niall has difficulty breathing; he’s apparently planning on killing him.

“You’re really on a roll here, aren’t you?” Louis says. “Do you really want to do this, princess?”

“Do what,” Niall says breathlessly and closes his hand around Louis’ wrist, trying to loosen his hold on him. “I am not doing anything wrong.”

“Do you _really_ want to defy me?” Louis asks. 

“I don’t even want anything to do with you,” Niall replies. “Now, let me go. I don’t know you anymore.”

“What’s the fuck is your problem, you little ungrateful wretch,” Louis growls. “Everyone would _kill_ ,” his eyes goes cold, “literally _kill_ to have the privilege I gave you.”

Niall laughs loudly and unapologetically. Louis glares death at him.

“Care to explain what you find so funny?” He sneers.

“You’re too much,” Niall says, getting control of his laughter. “What privilege? What privilege are you talking about Louis? You have done nothing but screw me over. And who are you to think you’re entitled to give people ‘privileges’, you need a reality check; because guess what, the real world isn’t going to revolve around Louis Tomlinson; you aren’t the center of the universe you narcissistic bastard.”

Niall gasps when Louis pulls him back from the wall only to slam him back against it, Niall hits his head so hard, he sees stars.

“You’re playing with fire,” Louis says quietly. “You better check yourself or help me God, I’ll-“

“You’ll what?!” Niall snaps. “You’ll throw me out?” Niall laughs and struggles against Louis’ hold until he can come so close, his nose is practically touching Louis’. “Do you want to know what I think, _babe_?” Niall says tauntingly. “I think you can’t throw me out. If you were going to boot me out of school, you would’ve done that _long_ ago, since it obviously comes easy to you to destroy people’s academic futures,” Niall spits, then he gives Louis a sweet smile. “But not me,” Niall whispers and he doesn’t know what has gotten into him - he’s most probably not getting enough air to his brain and maybe he has a death wish - but he brushes his lips against Louis, slowly, teasingly, and he _hears_ Louis’ breath hitch and see Louis’ blue eyes smolder. “You want me around,” Niall whispers, voice oddly hoarse. “ _You want me_.”

And then things happens pretty fast, Louis spins Niall around and more or less flattens his face against the wall, before fisting his hair so roughly Niall fears he’s trying to rip it out of his head. Louis twists his head back by his hair and Niall lets out a sound of pain. Niall can feel the tension rolling off Louis’ in wave, he can feel it in Louis’ body which is pressed against his, hell, he can feel Louis shaking with barely held self-control; Niall has a feeling he pushed way too far. Louis is breathing heavily and raggedly into Niall’s ear, his hot breath smelling of cinnamon latte filling Niall’s nostrils and Niall realizes Louis isn’t the only one shaking; Niall is shaking as well and whether it’s from fear or something entirely different, Niall can’t tell.

“I had nothing to do with it,” Louis whispers into Niall’s ear. “Don’t you fucking _dare_ blame me for your shitty failure of a relationship. I hope we are clear, princess,” he sneers the last part out venomously and Niall whimpers when Louis’ fingers in his hair tightens. Niall is slowly beginning to regret everything, but then it’s suddenly all over. Louis releases him and retreats. Niall falls weakly against the wall and tries to control his speeding heart and his labored breath. Once he turns around, Louis is long gone.

Niall runs a shaky hand through his hair, completely and utterly overwhelmed.

+

Fuck Louis. 

Fuck him for planting doubt in Niall’s mind. He’d already accepted the fact that none other than Louis is behind the whole episode, but if not him then _who_? It wouldn’t make sense that Chanel was all behind it, if she really had drugged Zayn, then why leave after all the trouble she got through to successfully break Niall and Zayn up? Why leave just a few weeks after she’d arrived? No, it doesn’t make sense. Louis must be lying, but there was something in Louis’ tone that Niall can’t ignore. But how can he trust him? Louis is a master of manipulation and lying, he knows just what to say, just how to say it for someone to believe him. 

In Niall’s mind, the only logical reason is that Louis is behind it, but he needs proof, he needs proof that he can rub in Louis’ face and then kick him for being a fucking asshole. He needs to find Chanel at whatever cost or at least somehow get in touch with her. He needs to make the neighboring girls talk; tell him everything they know about Chanel, and especially if they ever saw her with Louis.

It’s time to find answers.

+

Harry looks around in Niall’s tiny room.

“So,” He says slowly and blinks at Niall. “What exactly are you doing here?”

“I moved out here,” Niall explains unnecessarily. “It’s lovely isn’t it?” He jokes.

“Sure, if you fancy living like an inmate,” Harry says and drops down next to Niall on his bed. Harry stares at him with a serious frown. “Come back, Niall.”

“I don’t want to, Harry,” Niall says with a shake of his head. “There’s too much…drama and distractions in privilege house. I have to set my priorities straight.”

“But… I’m in privilege house, does that mean nothing to you?” Harry asks and makes big, sad eyes. “Of course it does,” Niall says and pinches Harry’s cheek playfully. “We can still see each other frequently, I mean we still live on the same campus.”

“But it’s not the same,” Harry moans and puts his head in Niall’s lap and looks up at him. “I was planning sleepovers with you, me and Panda. We need to bond. We’re supposed to be a family and how am I supposed to explain to her that her mommy has left her? she’s going to be so deva-“

“Wait a minute,” Niall interrupts Harry’s rambling. “Why am I the mommy?” he asks with narrowed eyes.

“Because I’m the daddy,” Harry replies with a ‘duh’ look. Niall purses his lips. “No, I want to be the daddy, you can be the mommy,” He says. 

“Nope, I’m the daddy,” Harry says firmly.

“Give me one good reason why it can’t be the other way round,” Niall asks and plays with Harry’s curls. Harry hums satisfied and nuzzles his belly. He gives Niall that cheeky grin that always means he’s going to say something dirty;

“Because when we fuck, I top, therefore, I’m the daddy,” Harry says and Niall goes beet red. He smacks Harry hard across the head. “Ouch!” Harry exclaims. Niall glares at him.

“You’re making it sound like we fuck regularly,” he says with still pink cheeks.

“Well, since Louis is mad at me because I’m talking to you and therefore is going to deny me sex, you have an obligation since it’s your fault,” Harry says in a serious tone. He looks up at Niall with mock innocence. “I can’t function properly without sex. I might die. you don’t want me to die and become a single-parent, now do you?”

Niall groans.

“Shut up,” He says. “Why are we even talking about this?”

“But, I don’t see the problem, you’re single, I’m kind of single, you find me sexy-“

“Who said I find you sexy, Styles,” Niall interrupts, but Harry continues undeterred.

“-And I think you have a really cute butt, so therefore, we should definitely fuck,” Harry blinks up at Niall innocently as if he is suggesting they go get ice-cream and not suggesting they enter a sexual relationship.

Niall pats Harry’s head condescendingly.

“Sorry, pop boy, that’s not going to happen in this life-time.”

Harry pouts exaggeratedly.

“So,” Harry says. “Are you going to tell me what exactly is going on? like why you specifically moved out and why you and Louis looks like you’re waiting for the opportunity to murder each other?”

Niall sighs. He doesn’t want to tell Harry. At least not yet. Not before he has solid proof that Louis is behind everything. He plays with Harry’s hair to stall for time, but Harry is beginning to look at him impatiently. Then there’s a knocking on the door.

 _Saved by the bell_. Niall thinks gratefully.

“I got it,” Niall pushes Harry off of him and races to the door. He opens it and he definitely doesn’t expect Liam to stand there. Niall stares at him. Liam stares unsurely back.

“What do you want?” Niall asks coldly. 

Liam squirms a bit, his eyes darting away from Niall’s.

“I want to talk,” he says then, quietly and looks back at Niall with a hesitant gaze. God, he looks worse up close. His skin is oddly pale and his floppy hair is a bit of a mess. Niall wonders what has happened to him; maybe Zayn has given him a hard time. Niall ignores the sting of sympathy.

“Oh, now you want to talk to me? Now when no one else can see?” Niall asks harshly. “Is that it, Liam?”

“Niall, please,” He begs.

“No, go away, I don’t want to talk to you,” Niall is about to slam the door closed but the thing that happens next, he wouldn’t have predicted in a million years.

Liam surges forward, grabs Niall around the waist and smashes their lips together in an uncharacteristically hard kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> but wait! there's another chapter ;)


	10. Chapter 10

Liam surges forward, grabs Niall around the waist and smashes their lips together in an uncharacteristically hard kiss.

And Niall stumbles back with the force of the kiss with a small gasp and Liam follows him, moving his lips over Niall’s in an ungentle and unpleasant way. Liam’s fingers are digging into Niall’s waist and quite frankly, it’s hurting him. 

“L-Liam-ah-s-stop!” Niall chokes in between desperate kisses and he digs the heel of his palm against Liam’s shoulder in an attempt to push the boy away, but Liam is considerably bigger and stronger than Niall. Niall tries to back away but the only place he gets is smashed up against the wall with Liam pressed against his front. “ _Liam_ ,” Niall gasps and he wonders what the fuck Harry is doing and why he isn’t helping him; Liam has clearly gone insane. 

“Niall, Niall, Niall,” Liam rants and he pulls away a split second and the look in his eyes is a little crazy and when he goes in for another kiss, Niall slaps him hard across the cheek. That seems to do the trick. Liam lets out a heart-wrenching sob and then he slumps against Niall, his face falling against the blonde’s shoulder and a second later, his body is wrecked with choked sobs. Niall stands perfectly still, completely and utterly shocked. He’s panting and his lips hurt; bruised, no doubt.

“Oh, my God-I’m so d-dead,” Liam hiccups and it’s painful, seeing Liam like this and something inside of Niall hurts. Niall wraps his arms around Liam’s broad shoulders and holds him to him. He looks toward Harry. Harry is sitting where Niall left him and staring at the scene with wide eyes and gaping mouth; he looks like a fish. Niall sends Harry a confused and worried look. Liam continues to cry uncontrollably and Niall can feel the warm tears soaking through his thin t-shirt.

Harry finally snaps out of it and he gets to his feet and rushes over. He carefully places a hand on Liam’s back and rubs soothingly. “Shhhh, it’s alright, it’s alright, it’s okay,” He whispers. Liam’s face jerks up and he stares at Harry with red-rimmed and wet eyes, clearly surprised to see him. “H-Harry?” He croaks and Harry gives him a soft smile. “It’s okay, Li, everything is going to be alright,” Harry’s fingers are now in Liam’s messy hair and he makes a feeble attempt at untangling the strands. Liam’s face falls back against Niall’s shoulder and somehow, he looks a lot smaller.

“No,” he whispers. “He’s going to kill me when he finds out.” and then a new set of fresh tears are streaming down his cheeks and Niall and Harry exchange worried looks. “Who’s going to kill you, Li? Find out what?” Niall asks confused. But Liam goes incoherent and neither Niall nor Harry can understand a word he’s blubbering about. “Hey, hey, calm down, Li,” Harry says and guides him toward the bed. Niall and Harry sits on either side of him and peers at him concerned.

“Try again,” Niall says. “What is wrong?”

“My father,” Liam sniffles and rubs the heel of his palm into his eye until it’s bloodshot. He sniffles and bites down his lip until the skin breaks and blood trickles out. Liam doesn’t seem to notice so Harry gently eases the pressure off his lip with a finger. “He can’t know…” Liam chokes a little and Niall takes his hand and squeezes. “If he knows I like boys too…he’s going to kill me. He’s going to disown me,” Liam whispers and breathes shakily. Harry and Niall exchange alarmed looks over Liam’s bowed head. “I…he’ll find out one day and then…he’s…” Liam trails off and hides his face behind his hand.

Niall’s heart goes out to him. He never thought Liam’s father, the Senator, would be homophobic. He can only imagine how scared Liam must be, because Niall knows one thing and that is that Liam can’t handle disapproval, not even from his own peers; his father not approving of him will probably kill him. Niall feels insanely lucky that his parents always were supportive of him; he can’t imagine what he would’ve done if they weren’t.

“It’s going to be alright, Li, I promise, why don’t you take a nap? Then we’ll talk when you wake up,” Harry pushes Liam down on the bed and Liam goes down with no struggle. Niall takes off Liam’s shoes and Harry pulls the blanket over Liam. Liam turns his face away and Niall knows his pride is probably catching up to his disorientated state. Harry strokes his hair caringly and Niall suspects Liam hasn’t closed an eye the last couple of nights, because he goes out like a light.

Once Niall is sure Liam is asleep, he grabs Harry and drags him a little away. “What the hell,” Niall whispers with a frown and casts a glance at Liam. “I didn’t know his father was like that,” Harry whispers back with a frown. “I mean, I’ve met him a few times and he seems like a really nice guy, considering he’s a politician and all.” Niall bites down his lip and shakes his head. “Poor Liam, no wonder it took him so long to realize what he really wanted,” Niall says. “He was afraid of disapproval.”

“I know how that feels,” Harry says quietly, looking at Liam’s sleeping form with empathy. Niall nods before he registers Harry’s words and he snaps to attention. He stares at Harry and gently touches his arm so Harry looks back at him. “Harry…you too?” He whispers. Harry’s lips quirks up in a sad smile and Niall’s heart drops. “Your parents?” he asks and Harry quickly shakes his head.

“No, no, my parents are cool,” Harry says.

“Then-who?” Niall asks with a confused frown. Harry sighs and a frown takes over his face.

“The general public,” he mutters and it hits Niall. Niall tends to forget that Harry is an international star, because to him, Harry will always be that constantly horny boy with the chocolate curls and dimply grin that sucks at science. But Niall didn’t know that Harry is in the closet, because if anyone is open about their sexuality then it’s Harry.

“But I don’t understand,” Niall says. “You do nothing to hide it. And how come your fans don’t know? what about that video of us? I still don’t understand how it isn’t leaked on the internet, don’t get me wrong, I’m happy, I just…don’t understand.”

“Louis got hold of all the phones that night,” Harry says with a fond smile. “Even though he wanted to kill me, he was still looking out for me. I guess that’s what you call a love/hate relationship.”

“I still doesn’t make sense,” Niall says with an adorable confused expression. “I mean, come on, how come no one has caught you? you aren’t exactly discreet.”

“Think about it, Niall,” Harry replies. “I’ve never been with Louis in public, well I have, but not kissed or even touched him in public, I haven’t even kissed or touched Louis outside of Privilege House.”

Niall thinks long and hard about that. And he realizes, Harry is right; Niall had just never paid any attention to it, but now that he thinks back, he can’t recall Harry and Louis getting touchy anywhere outside of the safety of their dorm. And that one time in New York, they kept their distance, and Niall realizes that might have been the initial cause of tension.

“Harry, are you afraid of negative backlash?” Niall asks concerned. Harry sighs. “It’s complicated. I dived into this whole thing head-first without thinking about it. I like to think I wouldn’t hesitate to come out to my fans, but I can’t because of my damn contract with my management,” Harry says with a tch and shakes his head. “I wish I never signed that contract. I feel like I sold my soul to the devil.”

“Oh…wow…that’s…” Niall trails off speechlessly and he can’t believe he hadn’t known that about Harry. He doesn’t even know what to think. To be forced to hide who you really are and even be afraid of what people’s reaction might be is a lot of pressure; Niall would’ve cracked long ago. He can’t find any words, so instead he goes in for a hug. 

“I hope everything turns out alright,” Niall whispers and rubs Harry’s back. “Me too,” Harry says with a sigh. Niall pulls away and studies Harry. “You alright?”

Harry nods with a faint smile.

“Yup, you give good hugs, I’m good,” He says and the cheeky grin is back as he flickers Niall’s nose. He turns to eye Liam. “So, I guess I should back off Liam for now, he has obviously too much going on,” Harry says. “You guess?” Niall rolls his eyes and smacks Harry lightly on the arm. “You definitely should.”

“And hey,” Niall says. “Someone should talk to Zayn. I can imagine Zayn is giving Liam shit right now when he needs his support the most.”

“Yeah,” Harry says and gnaws at his lip. “Zayn has been a little…err…I don’t even know how to explain. He’s not himself. It’s not just Liam he’s giving the cold shoulder, but me too. He nearly bit my head off when I tried to talk to him.”

“Please give it a second try, yeah?” Niall asks. “I think you’re the best bet here.”

“Of course,” Harry nods. “But I think we should handle Liam first.”

Niall glances at Liam and nods.

“Yeah.”

+

 

Liam is a lot more calm and collected once he wakes up a little before dinner. Of course, the first thing he does is apologize profusely to Niall, but Niall waves it off and smiles assuring at him; “it’s okay, Li. It’s fine, really.”

And then Liam and Harry and Niall enter this long, deep conversation about love and what is wrong and right. And that’s how Niall learn that Harry has never been in love, that he thought he was in love with Louis when he was freshman but that just turned out to be infatuation, and Liam confesses that his ‘silly crush’ on Louis might have been just a little more but when he met Danielle he got over it. By the end of it, Niall feels a lot closer to both Liam and Harry and they end their talk with hugs, and ‘everything’s going to work out’ and of course, Harry just have to give both Liam and Niall sloppy kisses on the cheek.

They’re getting ready for dinner when there’s a knock on the door. Niall gives it a wary look and Harry laughs.

“I should probably get it this time,” He says and walks over. He opens his door and Niall sees Hunter’s familiar tousled light brown curls and his eyes are surprised when he sees Harry. “Oh, you’re here for Niall?” Harry says and turns to shoot Niall a look. Niall pushes himself to his feet and walks over. Niall gives Harry a quick nod and Harry backs away but not before throwing Hunter an odd look.

“Hey, ‘sup?” Niall asks and smiles.

“Just thought to walk with you to dinner,” Hunter says, his gaze flickering over his shoulder briefly. 

“Oh yeah,” Niall glances back at Liam and Harry where Harry as his chin hooked on Liam’s shoulder and whispering something in Liam’s ear that’s making Liam resemble a tomato; what happened to backing off for now? Niall shakes his head with a smile and turns back to Hunter. “I was going with Harry and Liam, but we can all go together,” he says with a good-natured smile but something in Hunter’s eyes make that smile fall off his lips. 

Is that annoyance? No, it looks darker.

“I thought you were done with them?” Hunter asks in an uncharacteristically harsh tone and Niall frowns. “I was done with privilege house and Louis,” Niall says. “Those two over there are my friends.”

Hunter seems to backtrack and his expression shifts to apologetic.

“I’m sorry, you’re right,” He says with a somewhat stiff smile. “I’ll just go ahead. Adam is waiting for me downstairs.”

Before Niall can say another word, Hunter turns on his heels and walks off. Niall stares after him, unsure of what to make of that. He frowns and turns around and he sighs at what he sees; Harry has a hand dangerously high on Liam’s thigh and Liam’s expression can only be defined as terrorized; Niall doesn’t even want to know what Harry is whispering to him.

Niall decides to save him.

“A’right, Harry get the fuck off Liam and let’s go,” he says, walking over and pushing Harry away. “I’m starving.”

“Where’s that friend on yours?” Harry asks and looks over at the open door.

Niall shrugs.

“He left,” He says.

“Good,” Harry says and when Niall shoots him a questioning look, Harry shrugs; “I don’t like him.”

+

Zayn might as well take a knife and drive it through Niall’s heart, because quite frankly, it would’ve been less painful than watching him kissing someone else. And Niall can’t look away no matter how much it’s breaking him. Zayn is doing this on purpose and he isn’t being fair; what would he do if Niall began hooking up with every boy in ten miles radius?

Niall’s hand tightens around his fork and one of these days, he’s going to hurt someone with it. He looks bitterly away from Zayn and that nameless girl perched in his lap. Niall feels a hand on his own and he looks up at Hunter, who’s studying him with worried eyes.

“Are you alright?”

Niall tries to give a brave smile but it turns into a grimace instead. He bows his head and shakes it.

“He’s doing it on purpose,” Niall whispers. “Zayn is doing this on purpose.” Hunter looks over at Zayn and squeezes Niall’s hand.

“Then pay back,” Hunter says. Niall looks up at Hunter with confused eyes. “Huh?”

Hunter leans closer to Niall and looks at Niall with his greyblue eyes. “Show him he isn’t the only one who can play this game,” Hunter says in a hushed tone and as his gaze flickers down to Niall’s lips, Niall understands what he means.

And Niall shouldn’t do it, but he’s been sitting for the last 15 minutes watching Zayn touching and kissing some other girl and he feels hurt and emotionally vulnerable. So that’s why he doesn’t push Hunter away when he dips down and he allows him to kiss him there, in the middle of the cafeteria under all the heavy judgmental stares.

And Niall knows that not only Zayn is watching but the whole fucking school as well.

Niall hoped Hunter would just give him a quick peck or something, he shouldn’t be surprised when Hunter’s warm tongue slides over his bottom lip and while Niall wants to push him away, he can’t do it in front of everyone; that would humiliate Hunter and Niall actually likes Hunter.

The kiss seems to take ages as Hunter’s eagerly explores his mouth and Niall is barely kissing back, just sitting tense and stiff while trying hard not to jerk away from the unfamiliar touch. Once it’s finally over, Hunter pulls away and looks at him with bright eyes; Niall’s heart drops, he’d been delusional when he’d believed Hunter was over him.

And Niall’s gaze automatically flickers to the privilege table.

Zayn is staring right at him with absolutely no expression; just a blank stare but it still makes a wave of guilt crash on top of Niall. But there’s a much more intense gaze resting on him and Niall nervously looks toward Louis. Louis is outright glaring at him with blue eyes blazing and tightly clenched jaw. Meanwhile, both Liam and Harry are gaping at him with big eyes.

Fuck.

_stupid.stupid.stupid_

+

The first thing Niall does when he gets Hunter alone is to clear up.

“It was just a one-time thing, you know that right?” Niall asks a little nervously. Hunter just smiles. “Sure thing, I was just getting tired of watching you do nothing,” he says with a shrug and turns back to his homework. Niall suppresses a sigh of relief and turns to his English book as well.

Hunter helps Niall out by giving him his notes from last year and Niall offers thank you’s and grateful smiles. They finish up in the library and are heading back home when Hunter invites him to a party tomorrow night.

There’s mainly two reasons Niall agrees to go; one, he doesn’t want Hunter to think anything has changed just because that stupid kiss, two; he hasn’t let loose in what felt like forever and lately, he felt like he might snap under the pressure.

A night out seems like a good idea to him at the moment.

+

As Niall steps over the threshold of some big house - or more like a mansion - the music and loud laughter and chatter from inside nearly blows him away. He is beginning to doubt coming here, but Hunter gives him a boyish grin as he grabs his wrist and tugs him deeper inside.

“Come on! Let’s have a drink!” He shouts over the ridiculously loud beat and Niall tries not to step over anyone’s toe as he tries to keep up with Hunter’s long strides. Hunter easily navigates around all the people littering around, half of them having their tongues shoved down each other’s throat and leads Niall to the kitchen where there’s plenty of drinks. 

Hunter grabs a bottle of what, Niall isn’t sure and pours some to Niall before taking the whole bottle himself. Niall raises a brow at him, but doesn’t say anything. He takes a tentative sip of the drink and he immediately grimaces, whatever it is, it’s way too strong, and he decides he is just going to sip to it for the rest of the night. No matter what he tells himself, he doesn’t feel comfortable getting drunk around Hunter and all these rich strangers.

+

Hunter drinks. A lot. And Niall is beginning to get worried about him. He has been swigging from bottle after bottle and the drunker he got, the more did his sense of personal boundaries disappear. Niall has lost count of how many times he’s had to bat away wandering hands. 

It becomes so bad, that Niall just can’t stay around him without him trying to grope him; and Niall likes to blame it on the alcohol. Hunter just laughs and Niall decides not to make a big deal of it.

But things quickly escalate from there.

Niall is dancing with a random girl and Niall tries to hint to her that he doesn’t like girls; he wouldn’t have minded just dancing with her but she’s being close and grinding against Niall like she’s trying to have clothed sex with him on the dance floor. The girl simply doesn’t take a hint and giggles, slinging her arms around Niall’s neck.

That’s when Hunter appears next to them and Niall swallows at the stormy look in his eyes and Niall doesn’t even know what’s happening, except Hunter is having a death grip around his wrist and dragging him away from the girl. “H-Hunter,” Niall gasps and tries not to fall over his own legs. He tries to get out of his grip, but Hunter doesn’t let go. 

Hunter forcefully drags him upstairs and before Niall knows it, he’s being pushed into a bedroom. Niall doesn’t even have a chance to realize what he has gotten himself into before Hunter is forcing himself onto him with hard kisses and bruising grips.

“H-Hunter!” Niall gasps mortified and then there’s a tongue with heavy alcohol in his mouth and he gasps. He tries to push Hunter away but he doesn’t budge and panic shoots up in Niall when he realizes how utterly fucked he is. “H-Hunter stop-!” Niall yelps in pain when Hunter fists his hair in a harsh grip.

Niall can’t believe this is happening.

Hunter’s hand is everywhere, for every touch dragging Niall’s dignity down. Niall whimpers at the ungentle touch and he grabs Hunter’s shoulder and shoves him away. Hunter only stumbles back a couple of steps. 

“What Niall!” He shouts and he doesn’t look like the boy Niall knows, he looks fucking insane; with an icy shiver, this drastic change reminds Niall of Jordan. “You open up your legs for everyone, so why am I any different?”

The words hits Niall like a wall of bricks and hurts a lot more. The tears spring up in Niall’s eyes.

“Fuck you!” He screams and shoves Hunter away from him. He attempts to walk around him, but Hunter grabs hold of his upper arm and yanks him back. “Let go you fucking psycho!” Niall snarls and punches him hard in the chest. “We are never going to happen!”

The blow to his jaw is as unexpected as this whole predicament. Niall crashes to the floor, coppery blood filling his mouth. He rapidly blinks away the tears in his eyes and stares up at Hunter with a pounding heart. Hunter is standing over him and breathing heavily, his eyes a bit glazed over and he looks just as shocked as Niall feels.

Niall uses Hunter’s momentarily shock to scramble to his feet and make his escape. Niall pushes his way through the mass of people, tears blurring his eyes and blood dripping from his busted lip. Fear is running through his veins like poison and he keeps throwing glances over his shoulder, expecting the worst. He makes his way out in the warm spring air and he realizes he has no ride. He has to call for a taxi.

He waits for the taxi outside the gates all the while waiting for Hunter to pounce on him from nowhere. Once the taxi finally arrives, Niall is a nervous wreck and the driver gives him an odd look but asks no questions but he’s destination.

And Niall falls into the seats that smell badly of cigarette smoke and vomit, while trying not to throw up himself.

+

He manages to arrive at his room without breaking down and the first thing he does is pushing a chair against the door as he’s seen in moving and he prays it works in real life too.

First then, does he collapse on his bed, shaking and crying and in denial of what just happened. But the evidence is in his bleeding lip and bruised jaw.

He glances at the clock and it reads just past midnight.

His first instinct is to call Harry and his heart drops to his feet when it goes straight to voicemail. Niall throws the phone from him in a burst of hopelessness. He buries his face in his pillow and screams until his voice goes hoarse and raspy and then he sobs until his eyes goes dry and itchy.

It’s at that moment, he thinks, that he misses Zayn the most. Misses his warmth and his scent and the feeling of his stubbles when he doesn’t shave and the caring way he touches and holds him, but more than anything, he misses sleeping with Zayn in the most innocent sense of the word; that had been when he’d felt most secure and safe ever.

And now, no matter what he does to move on or change it just blows up in his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thumbs up for double-update! :)
> 
> I might not be able to update tomorrow. Thank you for all the lovely comments and kudos. Love you *mwah*


	11. Chapter 11

Niall doesn’t know when he cries himself to sleep but he jolts awake at the tentative knocking on the door. He bolts upright and stares fearfully at the door with a heart beating like crazy.

“Niall?”

Hunter. It’s Hunter. Niall curls up in the bed and clenches his eyes shut.

“Niall, I’m so sorry, I-I didn’t…fuck…I didn’t mean to do that, I swear,” Hunter says from the other end of the door and he sounds miserable. “Nothing I say will ever make it alright, I’m just…I got so drunk and…it’s no excuse…Niall…are you even alive?” Hunter sounds both worried and afraid. Niall bites down his wounded lip when Hunter grabs the handle of the door and surprisingly enough, the chair works; seems something is going Niall’s’ way. “Niall…I-I have a problem…I get like that when I’m drunk and…I wasn’t angry at you…I was angry for a different reason and I took it out on you…I’m not trying to excuse my behavior…” he sighs. “…will you at least give me a sign you’re still breathing?”

Niall curls his hand over his ear and tries to block Hunter’s voice out. this is just another betrayal on top of betrayals and Niall can feel the cracks showing. He might be alive but he’s barely breathing; short, painful gasps of air and he fears he’s beginning to have some kind of panic attack. Why does things like these always happen to him? Why does he have such a hard time finding good, _normal_ friends? Does he attract the crazy or something? Has he become some kind of human magnet for the mentally insane? A tear slips from under his closed eyelid and he sniffles softly to keep the waterways from overflowing. 

Hunter hasn’t said anything for a while now and Niall is beginning to think he has left; prays that he has left. But then he hears him let out the nth sigh. “I-I’ll just leave, yea?” Hunter says unsurely. “Please…I’m so sorry.”He says softly and Niall hears the sound of his footsteps as he walks away. Niall lifts his face and listens; Hunter isn’t going to his room, he’s going to the cafeteria.

Niall lets out a breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding and dries his slightly wet eyes. He knows he’s never going to be able to look at Hunter again without seeing those crazy eyes; those crazy eyes that reminds him so much of Jordan. God, Niall buries his face in his pillow. Seemingly, no one is who they make themselves out to be. Is it a requirement to be off the rocker to be accepted into this school? Or does it just run in the rich people’s genes? Niall guess you can’t have everything without lacking something; in this case, sanity.

Niall feels like he’s going insane as well. The way his life is can’t be healthy, and maybe he’s at fault too. Maybe he really still is that naïve and clueless blond kid. He guess he still is. Yeah, he definitely still is.

He jumps a little startled when his phone begins to ring. Niall looks over at where he threw it last night and he has to give it credit for not breaking; or maybe he didn’t throw it as hard as he thought. He watches it ring for one long moment before he scrambles off the bed and takes it off the floor. He stares at it. It’s Harry’s number. He is probably calling back from last night.

Niall doesn’t want to take it, so he throws it on his bed. He can’t have Harry or anyone finding out what big fool he is; especially not Zayn. This means he has to wait until the bruise on his jaw and lip fade away. He touches his jaw gingerly and winces; it hurts like a bitch, for being so drunk, Hunter can surely still swing a punch. Niall hasn’t looked at himself in a mirror. He’s too scared to see how bad it is. His skin is the worst; he knows from experience that the smallest bruise will stand out against his pale skin. 

Niall’s phone beeps, indicating an incoming text. Niall warily opens the text from Harry. It reads;

 _Hey u a’right? phone dead last night! srry! call me or i’ll see you at breakfast, love you xx_.

Niall throws his phone back on the bed. No way in hell is he going to breakfast and letting pretty much everyone see that bruise on his jaw. He can just imagine what kind of ridiculous rumors that would create; nope, he’s going to stay in this room forever. He decides he has no choice but survey the damage. He goes to the mirror built into the closet and takes a close look. He winces a little.

It’s as bad as he suspected. The skin on his left side of his jaw is tinged purplish blue and some dried blood is stuck in the cut of his bottom lip; everyone in a mile radius will notice it. And speaking of looking bad, he looks like shit himself. His eyes are tinged red and swollen from all the crying. His skin is a sickly pale and his hair is a mess. He’s still in the clothes he left in last night and it’s all rumpled and wrinkly.

Niall quickly moves away from the mirror, not bearing to look a second longer at himself. He lets out a life-tired sigh and flops down on his bed; planning to stay there for the rest of his life. (or at least for the weekend)

+

It has barely been half an hour before there’s an insistent knock on his door and Niall was half-sleeping so he’s startled again. He stares at the door, can he ever just catch a break? He really hopes Hunter isn’t back. Someone shakes the handle and yeah, this person is definitely more insistent than Hunter.

“What the fuck did you do to the door, princess?” Niall’s heart jumps up in his throat and he nearly chokes on nothing. Scratch what he said earlier, he’d rather it be Hunter than _Louis_. Why does Louis chose now of all time to come and torture him? Talk about bad timing. “I know you’re in there,” Louis says, voice annoyed and shakes the handle again. Niall doesn’t even dare to breathe. Maybe if he ignores him long enough, then he’ll go away.

“Here’s your choice blondie; either open the door or I’ll kick it down, you have 5 seconds.”

Or maybe not.

“5…4…3..”

That son of a bitch. Niall knows that Louis is actually going to kick the door down or at least try to, and even though Niall doubt he can, he doesn’t need the attention it will bring. He curses under his breath before walking up to the door.

“2…1…okay that’s it-“

“Shut up! I’m coming,” Niall snaps as he stops up in front of the door.

“Oh look, you are actually alive,” Louis says in a voice practically dripping with sarcasm. “Be a good boy and open the door.” Niall sighs and rests his forehead against the door. He can’t have Louis see him like this; no way. There must be a way he can make him leave.

“What do you want?” Niall asks.

“I want you to open this door, I’m not going to repeat myself again, do you mistake me for a tape recorder?” Louis throws back. “What the fuck are you hiding in there? Osama bin Laden?”

“Osama Bin Laden is dead you moron,” Niall replies dryly.

“Well, that’s what they want us to think,” Louis says with a tint of humor in his voice. “Frankly, I don’t believe it.”

“So what, you’re a conspiracy theorist now?” Niall asks.

“It’s suspicious, is all I’m saying,” Louis replies. “They use ten years searching for the guy all over the world and where do they find him? in his own fucking home. I mean come on, really?”

“Why are we even talking about this?” Niall says with a shake of his head. “I’m not opening the door. I was sleeping. Go away.”

“So, I’ll have to kick it down then,” Louis says. “Do you really want that?”

“I want you to go away,” Niall replies annoyed. He startles when the door shakes doubtlessly from a kick from Louis. “Alright! Alright!” Niall shouts. “There, I thought I could talk some sense into you,” Louis replies and Niall can just hear the smug smirk in his voice; asshole.

Niall takes a deep inhale, exhales and quietly removes the chair from the door. Then he presses himself up against it and cracks it open, peeking out at Louis. Louis is standing there and looking good with damp strand of hair falling over his eyes. He stares at Niall.

“What are you doing?” He asks and attempts to push the door open but Niall won’t let him. Niall can’t have him see the bruises on his lip and jaw. “What can I help you with?” He asks flatly. Louis studies him and Niall automatically looks away from his piercing eyes. 

“Why are you eyes so red? have you been crying?” Louis asks and Niall shoots his gaze down. “No,” he mutters unconvincingly. “I didn’t sleep well. that’s all. now, if I can’t help you with anything, you’re welcome to leave.”

Louis frowns and for a second, Niall actually thinks he’ll listen and just leave him alone but then he forcefully shoves the door open, making Niall stumble a few steps back. Louis enters his room and his eyes immediately falls on his lip then his jaw. There goes a long moment where Niall stands perfectly still and just stares; stares at Louis staring at the bruises.

Then he slowly steps forward until he’s standing close, and Niall winces when Louis touches his jaw with tentative fingers, then his bloody lip; the touch is gentle and Niall feels himself wanting to lean closer to it. There’s concern in Louis’ eyes but it’s quickly replaced by something much darker. He looks Niall in the eyes.

“Who did this to you?” He asks quietly but eerily.

Niall looks away from his eyes and shrugs.

“No one,” he lies. “I tripped and hit myself on my desk.”

“Bullshit,” Louis sneers. He catches Niall’s arm and forces him to look at him. “That bruise is from a punch,” he states. “Now, let’s try it again; _who_ did this to you?” he says putting pressure on the last few words. Niall swallows. 

“Louis, please, it’s nothing,” he whispers. “It was an accident. I’m alright. He didn’t mean to, he was drunk.”

Louis stares at Niall for one long moment, long enough for Niall to grow nervous, long enough for the sweat to break out on his forehead. And he doesn’t know how, maybe Louis is a mind-reader, but understanding dawn in his eyes.

“That _fucker_ ,” Louis bits out in a dangerous tone and before Niall can do anything, he storms off. Niall stands back for a few seconds before he realizes just exactly what Louis has in mind and then he gets busy tugging on his shoes and chasing after him. He catches up to him just outside Drake house.

“No! Louis, stop! please!” He shouts and tries to grab Louis, but Louis shakes him off and continues on his path; his eyes set in dangerous thin slits and his jaw clenched, hands fisted. “Louiis!”

Everyone stares after them like they’re lunatics, and they probably look a little more than crazy; what with Niall’s bruise and disheveled state and the pure killer vibes rolling off of Louis in waves. Everyone in Louis’ path scurries out of the way with wide fearful eyes.

“Louis! please, _stop_.”

It’s fruitless, Louis shakes him off easily and they reach the cafeteria all too soon. Oh God, Niall’s heart goes crazy as he follows Louis into the cafeteria. He hopes, he dearly prays that Hunter isn’t in there. Louis stops up just inside of the door, his eyes scanning the cafeteria like a predator scanning the savannah for its prey. Niall grabs Louis’ arm.

“Louis, _Louis_ , what are you doing? Look at me!” Niall shouts, he doesn’t care about how the whole cafeteria has grown quiet and is now staring at the two of them. Niall looks around and he and Louis find Hunter at the exact same time. Niall’s heart drops from his ribs and down to his toes. Louis rips away from Niall and charges toward a very pale, terrified-looking Hunter.

 _shit_.

And things happen way too fast for Niall to do anything about them. Louis grabs Hunter by the collar and yanks him out of his seat. “How fucking _dare_ you touch him,” Louis spits and when he swings a fist, Niall freezes. Louis’ punch catches Hunter just under his chin and Hunter stumbles on his feet. A communal gasp erupts from their peers. Louis isn’t quite done yet. He moves forward and punches Hunter straight in the kidney. Hunter gasps and bends over. Louis then drives a knee right into his stomach and the air is knocked out of Hunter. Hunter would’ve collapsed but Louis holds him up and then sends him to the floor with a punch straight to his face. Niall gasps, bringing a hand to his mouth when a sickening crunch fills the cafeteria and the gasp is soon echoed by the rest of the students. Hunter goes down with an agonized cry that goes straight through Niall’s shock and he snaps out of it.

“LOUIS!” he screams and goes to grab Louis, but Louis shoves him away. Niall stumbles on his feet and he would’ve fallen down if someone hadn’t caught him. The hands that steady him feels familiar and he looks behind him. His poor heart nearly malfunctions when he sees Zayn’s beautiful, beautiful eyes. Zayn looks down at him worried, his gaze zooming in on his bruised jaw and bust lip.

“Niall,” He says softly and God, Niall feels the tears sting in his eyes. It feels like years since he heard Zayn say his name without spitting it out. Niall nearly forgets the disastrous situation at hand, but a pained moan from Hunter snaps him back to reality. He looks back only to see Louis on top of Hunter, grabbing him by the collar and smashing his head hard down into the floor before lifting his fist and punching him in the face repeatedly.

“Oh my God! Zayn! Please, stop him!” Niall shouts frantically and looks toward Zayn, but Zayn’s eyes are hard as he watches Louis beat Hunter half to death. Niall feels relief when Zayn moves forward but that relief is quickly washed away by horror when Zayn drives the heel of his shoe into Hunter’s temple, smashing the poor boy’s bloody face into the floor. 

“You bastard,” Zayn growls.

“Son of a bitch,” Louis adds.

“No!” Niall shouts when Zayn lifts his feet to kick Hunter in the face and he lunge forward, crashing into Zayn. The impact surprises Zayn and he falls to the ground with a grunt taking Niall with him. They end up in a rather awkward position with Niall on top of Zayn. Zayn stares up at him flabbergasted and Niall stares back down, shifting awkwardly. The moment is broken when Hunter lets out another pained sound. 

Niall scrambles off of Zayn and just manages to grab Louis’ arm in a tight grip before he punches Hunter again.

“Fuck, Louis! Stop!” Niall begs and his heart drops when he looks down at Hunter; he’s clutching his nose while a profuse amount of blood is gushing out and ruining his crisp, white Armani shirt. 

“I’m not done,” Louis sneers and yanks his arm out of Niall’s grip.

Just then, the doors to the cafeteria spring open and in rush several teachers and a very upset-looking headmistress. “Louis William Tomlinson! Get off immediately!” She bellows. Among the teachers are their lacrosse coach and he grabs Louis by the arm, forcefully pulling him off of Hunter and dragging him a safe distance away from the boy.

“What the fuck are you doing, Tomlinson!” He shouts at him, his face red with anger after seeing Hunter’s state. “Let me go!” Louis shouts back and tries to get out of their coach’s grip, but he doesn’t let go. 

“Take the boy to the infirmary!” Mrs. Jensen orders and a couple of teacher helps Hunter to his feet and scurries off with him. Mrs. Jensen turns to look at both Louis and Niall with eyes that can cut through steel. “You two! My office! _Now_!!”

Louis yanks his arm from coach’s grip with a snarl and shoots Mrs. Jensen a defiant look, but stalks out of the cafeteria nonetheless. Niall scrambles to his feet and trails after Louis, staring at his feet. He catches sight of Harry and Liam standing with Zayn all three of them following him and Louis with worried eyes.

And wait just a minute, why does he have to go to the office? He is the victim here.

When he tries to ask that, Mrs. Jensen gives him a look that gives him the idea that he should just shut up and walk.

+

There’s a very tense silence in the office as Mrs. Jensen glares at them over her interlaced fingers while Louis doesn’t look away from her glare and just stares right back at her, meanwhile, Niall stares down at his fidgeting fingers.

He’s going to get thrown out for no reason at all. He moved out of privilege house only to get kicked out of the whole fucking school. But hey, maybe it’s for the best. He’ll probably end up dying if he stays here.

The silence stretches on and Niall doesn’t understand why Mrs. Jensen doesn’t chew them out already, can’t she just get it over? Niall suppresses a sigh. It isn’t the first time he and Louis has ended up in these uncomfortable plastic chairs; Niall bets they’re uncomfortable on purpose, it isn’t like this school can’t afford something just a tad more comfortable.

Niall glances at Louis and his eyes falls on Louis’ bloodied knuckles; he feels a strong twinge of concern. A part of him wants to take Louis’ hand and clean it and wrap it up. Another part of him wants to punch Louis in the face for being such an idiot. But yet again, another part of him feels a warmth that Louis got that angry and broke a kid’s nose just for him. yeah, he feels conflicted.

“So, are you going to explain yourself?” Mrs. Jensen finally says and looks pointedly at Louis. “Why were you beating another student, Tomlinson?” She asks.

“He hit Niall,” Louis says simply. Niall glances at him and Louis looks at him at the same time. They hold eye-contact for a second or two before looking away at the same time.

Mrs. Jensen raises an eyebrow.

“Is that so?” She asks and looks at Niall. Her eyes narrow a little when she sees Niall’s jaw and lips. “When did this happen?”

“Last night…he was d…” Niall trails off. He realizes if he reveals that Hunter has been drunk, Hunter will be in a lot of trouble. 

“The dick was drunk which doesn’t give him the right to hit Niall, Louis says, his face twisting into anger. Louis looks at Niall. “Tell Mrs. Jensen why exactly he thought he could punch you?”

Niall swallows a little and looks away from Louis’ prodding stare. Mrs. Jensen is staring at him as well with an inquiring expression. 

“He…he tried to force himself onto me,” Niall says in a rush and looks down. “He punched me when I said no.” When he chances a glance at Louis, Louis looks positively livid. He glares at the headmistress as if saying “see? you should have let me kill him.”

Meanwhile Mrs. Jensen looks positively disturbed by that piece of information. She looks sympathetically at Niall. “I’ll have a word with Mr. Braden,” She says. “You can leave, go get checked at the infirmary.” She says.

Niall hesitates and looks toward Louis.

“Louis, you’ll stay behind, I need a serious word with you,” Mrs. Jensen says before shooing Niall away.

“Yeah, whatever,” Louis says with a roll of his eyes. Niall looks at Louis and he feels worried for him; he hopes Mrs. Jensen doesn’t suspend him or something, but then again, Louis being suspended isn’t something Niall can imagine ever happening.

He is Louis Tomlinson after all.

Niall shakes his head a little and leaves.

+

When he comes back to his room, he’s very surprised to see Liam, Harry and _Zayn_ there. Liam and Harry immediately rush over, Harry lifting him slightly off the floor with a tight hug. “God, look at that,” Harry says with a hint of anger in his voice as he gently touches Niall’s jaw. “That dick, I knew he wasn’t good news!”

“What happened, Niall?” Liam asks and looks at him worriedly. 

Niall barely notes their questions; he’s busy staring at Zayn over Liam’s shoulder. Zayn is leaned up against the wall with his arms crossed and when their eyes meet, he looks away. alright, Zayn came to his room, this must be a good sign.

“This is why you were calling at that hour last night!” Harry exclaims. “Oh God, I’m so sorry, Niall! If I knew-“

“I’m alright,” Niall says distracted without taking his eyes off of Zayn. Zayn finally looks at him and _God_ , was he always that gorgeous or does Niall first learn to appreciate it now that he can’t touch him? Either way, Zayn looks just the bit of a prince that he is, and Niall hates himself for losing him. Zayn looks at him with those bottomless amber eyes and Niall misses the times Zayn would look him deeply in the eye and tell him he loves him. Niall has to use some serious self-control not to throw himself at Zayn’s feet and beg for forgiveness. Zayn then walks toward him and Niall’s heartbeat picks up until it’s trashing against his ribcage.

Zayn stops a little in front of him and Harry and Liam tactfully take a few steps back. Zayn studies him closely and Niall stares at him. He wishes Zayn would hug him. Niall has no doubt in his mind that everything would be okay if he just did.

“Are you alright?” Zayn asks quietly and peers intently into Niall’s eyes. Niall doesn’t even notice that he has taken a step closer. “I’m alright,” he says. “How are you?”

Zayn gives him a comical look and shrugs.

“I’m fine.”

Niall nods and swallows. He wants to step forward and kiss Zayn so badly. Zayn nods slowly and glances at Harry. Niall doesn’t understand the hard look Harry is giving him. Then Zayn looks at Liam who is giving him an unreadable look. What is going on?

“Okay,” Zayn says and Niall’s heart hurt to its core when he walks around him and leaves. All Niall wants to do is grab him and beg him to stay. He wishes Liam and Harry weren’t there, then maybe things could’ve turned out differently. Niall stares longingly after Zayn and he lets out a small wistful sigh.

Maybe it’s really over.

He feels a hand squeeze his shoulder and he looks behind him at Harry. Harry gives him a sympathetic look. “Are you okay?” he asks, and Niall nods. 

“I will be.”

He _has_ to be. 

+

Liam and Harry insist that he come back to privilege, telling him it is unacceptable that he lives next door to that ‘psycho’. They were both livid once Niall told them the details and they both agreed that Louis had been right by beating the shit out of him. Niall tells them he’s taking a shower and he’ll come over later on so they can talk. He says it more to get rid of them than anything. Don’t get him wrong, he loves them to pieces but he wants to be alone for now. Before they leave, he finds himself asking if Louis is going to be alright. Liam and Harry exchange smiles and Harry shrugs.

“He’s Louis, he always lands on his feet,” Harry says with a smirk.

He’s in the shower and as he stands under the showerhead all he can think about is Zayn…and Louis. He hopes the headmistress isn’t too hard on him after all Louis is in the trouble because he was defending Niall; he was actually defending him which is a big surprise in itself. It’s the last thing Niall expected what with their deteriorating relationship the last few weeks.

He wonders what Louis had originally wanted earlier this morning; he’s curious actually. Also, he can’t help but hope Hunter is alright. Niall will probably never forgive him for last night and the words he’d hurtled at him. But aside from that night, Hunter is a great guy and Niall might be crazy, but he believes him when he says he has issues. There’s no other way to explain that crazy character shift.

But Niall doesn’t want anything to do with him anymore.

+

Niall has just fixed himself up and thrown some clean clothes on when Louis barges into his room without knocking giving Niall a near heart-attack; Niall wonders when his heart will simply stop beating, if his life continues down this path, then it surely isn’t going to take long.

“Pack your bags, _now_ ,” Louis says in a voice that leaves no room for objections. “You’re coming back to Privilege House. You obviously can’t stay out of trouble.”

Niall stares at him blankly before with a sigh brushing his damp hair out of his face; he subconsciously notes that he needs a new haircut.

“There’s a reason why I left,” Niall replies flatly. 

“Oh, is that so, princess?” Louis says condescendingly. “Why don’t you tell me the exact reason then?”

Niall feels himself getting worked up and his jaw clenches tightly. There’s something in Louis’ tone that pisses him off endlessly. 

“You know exactly why,” He spits and turns to face Louis fully.

Louis narrows his eyes.

“Oh do I?”

“It’s because of you!” Niall exclaims and walks over, digging a finger into Louis’ chest. Louis yanks his hand away from his being. “Fuck you Louis! I fucking hate you! you lie, you manipulate, you destroy! And somehow, you always get away with it. hell, you can get away with _anything_ can’t you?” Niall spits hatefully. Louis’ eyes smolders and he gets right up in Niall’s face.

“Well, guess what, I hate you too you little shit,” He throws back with just as much hatred. “Haven’t I already told you I had nothing do with your disastrous relationship?”

“Liar!” Niall shouts and shoves Louis away. “Who else would it be? You can’t frankly be surprised that you’re the first one I suspect. It’s something only you would do! Now, back _off_ ”

“Don’t shove me!” Louis snarls and get right back into Niall’s face. Niall’s back a little away at the intensity of Louis’ glare. His eyes flickers down to Louis’ hands were the blood has dried and the skin is raw. He doesn’t feel worried about him anymore, hell, a part of him really wants to hurt him.

“Then, back _off_ ,” Niall repeats.

“You know what? You’re right! I might have encouraged that crazy bitch once or twice!” Louis says and Niall gasps. “I knew it!” He cries.

“Shut up! You know _nothing_!” Louis shouts back. “I had nothing to do with the drugging! And I had _nothing_ to do with her disappearance! Hell, I _wish_ I had but she was gone before I even had the chance!” Louis says and Niall feels something dark and smoldering build up inside of him; he’s going to kill Louis. “And right now, I wish I had more to do with it and guess what, I’m _happy_ Zayn broke up with you! You weren’t good for him, watching you two together was like watching a train-wreck in slow-motion, you were going to crash sooner than later. That chick just sped up the process. So fuck you for blaming me, you little _bitch_!”

And Niall finally loses it.

He punches Louis so hard in the face, Louis crashes to the floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for all the lovely comments. they make me smile :) love youuu x


	12. Chapter 12

The silence is deafening.

The only thing being heard is the soft breathing of Niall and Louis. Niall stares down at Louis, the fist that had connected with Louis’ face seconds ago still slightly raised. A part of Niall can’t believe he just punched Louis, another part of him has never been more pleased; like punching Louis was the thing he needed the most. His whole body is tense and rigid, the blood pumping fast through his vein interlaced with hot, white anger and his heart is beating like there’s no tomorrow.

Louis’ face is tilted toward the floor, his bangs falling over his eyes. There goes one long moment before he raises his gaze to Niall’s and he looks absolutely and completely flabbergasted; staring at Niall with wide open eyes and mouth. Niall bets his left kidney that Louis has never been punched before, and Niall punching him has completely astonished him. 

The air in the room is suffocating; the tension is stretched so far and thin that Niall knows hell is going to break loose once it snaps. Louis slowly but surely lifts a hand and touches his right cheekbone where Niall punched him gingerly. With his fingers still against his cheek, he looks at Niall; if looks could kill, Niall is positive he would’ve dropped dead by now. Any human being with common sense would’ve made a run for it, but Niall just stares at Louis, the air between them charged to the maximum; so much, Niall can barely breathe.

And then the tension snaps.

Louis lunges at him with a furious cry and before Niall can even react, Louis has got a hand tightly fisted into the back of Niall’s air, his lips smashed against Niall in a violent, teeth-clashing kiss. Louis’ unoccupied hand splays over the small of Niall’s back; pressing Niall into him until the blonde feels like Louis is trying to blend their bodies. Niall’s hands move on their own record and before he knows of it, they’re behind Louis, nails digging into Louis’ shoulder and the other hand finds its way under Louis’ shirt, scratching the skin there. Niall lets out a hiss of pain; Louis lets out an angry hiss in return.

Niall isn’t sure whether Louis is honestly trying to kiss him or kill him; most probably both. Louis tugs harshly in Niall’s hair and Niall’s face tilts a little backwards, his mouth parting in a small gasp and Louis takes full advantage, his tongue invades Niall’s mouth, hot, wet and tasting of french latté. And the kiss and Louis’ body pressed against Niall’s is so overwhelming that he has to remember to breathe through his nose as to not suffocate.

Niall drags his nails down Louis’ back, digging them into his warm skin, intent on hurting him as much as Louis is hurting him. Louis snarls at that, fisting Niall’s hair tighter, kissing him more forcefully. “How dare you punch me,” He pants, finally removing his mouth from Niall’s and Niall takes a sharp, greedy inhale of air. A shuddering breath leaves him when Louis hot mouth trails down and sucks at the bruised skin on his jaw, making him release a pained whimper. “…nobody has ever punched me.”

“You..ah…deserves it, _jerk_ ,” Niall swallows heavily when Louis’ mouth drags down to his neck and Niall throws his head back to give him more space. Louis latches onto the skin of his neck like a hungry leech, licking, sucking and biting marks into it; his mouth moves harshly, fervently like he’s trying to cover as much skin as fast as possible.

“God, I hate you,” Louis growls, backing Niall toward the bed and Niall curls his hand into Louis’ shirt, taking him with him. “I hate you so much,” Louis pushes him down on the bed and Niall pulls him with him. Niall lets out a small “of” when Louis’ body weight nearly crushes him but he does nothing to remove him, contrary, he pulls him closer. Louis’ mouth finds his again and the kiss isn’t as violent but it’s still rough and harsh and on verge of desperate. Niall thrusts his hips up for some kind of friction and Louis immediately retaliates, countering Niall’s hip and they groan in each other’s mouths; their tongue overlapping each other in a messy, filthy dance. “I hate you for getting under my skin,” Louis grunts into his ear, taking his earlobe between his teeth and tugging until Niall lets out a whimper of pain.

“Shut up,” Niall hisses as their rutting becomes more heated, more desperate. “I hate-ah-you, _god_ , so much more,” and as if to stress his words, his fingers tangles in Louis’ hair and pulls the soft strands as hard as he can. Louis groans and Niall can’t determine whether it’s from pleasure or pain. 

“fuck you, Louis, _fuck you_ ,” Niall bits out, the anger still coursing through his veins but there’s something else as well; something just as if not more burning and engulfing. A shuddering moan is ripped from Niall’s throat when he feels Louis arousal press into his thigh, heavy and hot and Niall shifts so they can rub against each other, the friction of their jeans a painful pleasure.

“ _Gladly_ ,” Louis says, his fingers are frantic as they push under Niall’s shirt, touching the skin there. “You asshole,” Niall moans. “You fucking ass- _ah_!” Niall gasps when Louis roughly grabs him over the fabric of his jeans and when he squeezes, Niall chokes on thin air. “Shut _up_ , shut the fuck _up_ ,” Louis growls and Niall’s eyes shoots daggers. “You shut up!” He snarls and with a sudden rush of adrenaline, he pushes Louis’ shoulder until he can flip them around and then he’s straddling Louis. 

Louis looks up at him with a surprised and slightly dazed expression, his eyes has gone a smoldering, black color and Niall stares down at his face for a second and he realizes how much he hates Louis’ perfect, pretty boy face; _fuck him_. “Don’t tell me to shut up,” Niall hisses before he surges down and claims Louis’ lips in a fervent and messy kiss, pushing his tongue into Louis’ mouth, pressing against the roof of his mouth and tasting the coffee he’d had this morning. He bites down on Louis’ bottom lip and pulls back until Louis lets out a breathy groan and the skin breaks, Niall lets it snap back in place when Louis’ blood hits his taste buds.

Louis grabs his hips roughly and flips them around once again, but Niall will have none of that and he shoves Louis off of him. “Arg!” Louis exclaims as he falls over the bed and the triumphant smirk on Niall’s lips is quickly wiped away when Louis takes him with him. The crash to the floor is none too gently and they let out simultaneous groans when they hit their heads. 

And then, they begin tugging and ripping each other’s clothes off, all the while trying to stay on top and it gets to the point where Niall isn’t sure whether they’re wrestling or what the fuck they’re doing; all Niall knows is that he’s burning up from the inside out and he _doesn’t_ have the patience to pop open the buttons of Louis’ stupid, expensive shirt; so he simply grabs the front and rips the shirt open, the buttons flying everywhere. 

Louis lets out a comical gasps. “I paid _thousands_ for that!” He exclaims. “I’ve never seen an uglier shirt,” Niall spits, though he’s lying because Louis looked perfect in it; but he looks a lot more perfect without it. Niall pushes the shirt off his shoulders. “You little!” Louis growls and he pushes his fingers under Niall’s shirt, dragging his nails up his sides as he rides the shirt up. Louis flings Niall’s shirt carelessly to the side before pushing him down onto his back, the rug scratching Niall’s naked back.

Louis hovers over him for a second, just staring at him with intense, pitch-black eyes and Niall stares back, mouth swollen, red and parted. “What the fuck are you staring-“ Niall’s sentence is cut off when Louis smashes their lips together, doubtlessly to shut Niall up and Niall groans, his fingers going digging into Louis’ back and Niall absolutely _loves_ the way Louis arches into him with a pained hiss. 

Louis and Niall’s lips molds and tongues tangle and Niall can taste coppery blood but he isn’t sure if it’s his or Louis; probably both. Niall’s fingers scratches a line down Louis’ back, for the sole reason of leaving angry, red lines there until he reaches his arse and he eagerly takes a handful, squeezing the flesh; Niall never knew he wanted to touch Louis ass so badly before now. Louis face falls into the crook of his neck as he lets out a shuddering breath.

Louis uses a second too long, just breathing into Niall’s neck so Niall has to say something; “What are you doing? Are you just going to lie there uselessly? I shouldn’t have expected mo-OH!” Niall’s mouth forms in a perfect ‘o’ shape, his eyes widening impossibly and his body shaking slightly. Louis has shoved his hand down the front of his jeans and now has a good hold around him. “What was that?” Louis says and tugs so hard that Niall can’t stop the breathy whimper from falling over his lips, and he can just feel Louis smug smirk against the skin of his neck. Niall lets out a displeased whine when Louis pulls his hand back from his trousers.

“Patience, princess,” Louis says into his ear and the pet name does something to Niall it hasn’t before; his whole body shudders eagerly in reply. Louis wraps his arms under him and Niall lets out an embarrassing squeak when Louis lifts him up from the ungentle floor. Louis smirks down at him before unceremoniously throwing Niall onto the bed. 

“Hey!” Niall exclaims and he props himself up onto his elbows staring confused at Louis. He watches Louis walk up to the door which is slightly ajar - and Niall really hopes no one has walked past and seen anything - Louis closes it and grabs the chair Niall had used this morning and puts it up against the door. Niall’s heart does a spin that makes him feel lightheaded and he falls back down on the bed. He hears Louis rummaging his nightstand and Niall looks over.

“What are you doing?” Niall asks confused as Louis searches through the first few drawers and then Niall realizes and he looks away, his cheeks burning. “Duffel bag in the closet, pocket on the front.” Louis follows his instructions without words and he’s back the next second, crawling over Niall, a small bottle in his hand. Louis looks down at Niall and for the first time he sees a bit of uncertainty there. The older boy leans down and brushes his lips against the blonde’s in a surprisingly gentle touch compared to earlier.

“Is it alright?” He whispers and his voice has grown a tad husky; it makes small goose bumps appear all over Niall’s body. Niall finds himself giving Louis a wry smile. “Is the great Louis Tomlinson actually asking for permission?” he teases and Louis sighs, his face falling against Niall’s shoulder. “Give me a break, will ya?” he says and Niall swears there’s a pout in his voice. Niall grabs the back of Louis’ hair and forcefully lifts his face up. He looks him dead in the eye.

“Get on with it,” He whispers, eyes fluttering till they’re half-lidded and cheeks tinting a pink color. Louis stares at him with this burning look that Niall can practically feel the heat on his skin. “God, would you stop staring at me and _do_ something already?”

 

Louis is surprisingly fast at unbuckling his belt and pushing his boxers and pants down all in one movement. And then, Niall is completely naked under Louis gaze. Niall suddenly feels incredibly vulnerable and open as Louis’ gaze rakes over him hungrily and predatorily. 

“On your knees,” Louis says hoarsely. Niall blinks up at him perplexed. “Wha-?”

“On your _hands and knees_ ,” Louis repeats and before Niall can react, Louis grabs him and impatiently flips him around. Then he proceeds to dig his fingers into Niall’s hips and lifts his ass in the air. Niall lets out an embarrassed sound, his face burning red. “Louis!” He whines, hiding his face in his pillow.

He shivers when he feels Louis splay his hand over one ass cheek, thumb rubbing into the flesh; Niall moans and Louis echoes it.

“Fuck,” He says. “Harry is right, you have the most gorgeous ass _ever_.”

Niall’s face gives off as much heat as the summer sun.

“What?” He screeches horrified. “Don’t fucking tell me you talk about my _ass_!”

“Of course we do,” Louis says off-handedly, his fingers moving over and his hands spreads Niall’s ass cheeks wide open, making Niall choke on nothing from embarrassment at being exposed like that. “We like to jerk each other off while talking about you, well, Harry talks, I listen, and guess what, it works wonders; it always gets me off.” Louis whispers filthily in his ear, nibbling his earlobe and Niall groans.

Niall shouldn’t have expected less of Harry; the boy is fucking hopeless. Niall doesn’t even want to know what else they talk about. (except he does, he’s a little curious, it’s all.)

Niall is ripped from his thoughts when a slicked, cold finger drags along his rim and he lets out a loud moan, instinctively pushing back against the digit. Niall is pretty sure Louis is the biggest tease ever, that kind that makes you beg for ages before he gives it to you, but right now, it’s so obvious that’s Louis is impatient; that the same scolding heat that’s burning Niall up is burning him up, and it makes Niall feels things he can’t explain in words.

Louis knows how to use his fingers. One, two, _three_ and he has Niall a wreck underneath him; forcing moans over his lips with each pump of his fingers and he curls and twists until Niall’s body shudders and a loud groan is ripped from his throat when Louis’ hit that sensitive spot. “Yeah, that’s it, princess,” Louis whispers into his mouth. “Let me hear just how much you like it.”

“Oh god, shut the fuck up,” Niall says but his voice is shaky and weak at best. Louis chuckles into his ear, knowing very well that he has Niall to his completely mercy. Then Louis’ fingers leave him and Niall automatically letting out a whine of displeasure, his ass wriggling in the air.

“Oh my _god_ , stop doing that!” Louis groans almost desperately. His hand coming down on Niall’s ass and stopping his movement. “I might lose my fucking mind.”

Niall hears Louis opening the bottle and then there’s the sound of foil being ripped open, and Niall doesn’t know when he began shaking, but he’s shaking with an anticipation so intense he can barely breathe properly. His breath catches in his throat when Louis fingers digs into his hips, the touch like coal burning through his skin and he feels Louis prod at his entrance.

And Louis takes entirely too long or maybe it’s just long in Niall’s mind but Niall feels himself snapping; “What are you waiting for? Get to it al-“ 

Niall’s cries out when Louis pushes into him without warning and while Niall’s eyes stings and he tries to regain his breath, Louis doesn’t stop until his buried to the hilt. And then he falls onto Niall’s back, breathing raggedly. Niall whimpers at the painful stretch of Louis filling him up. Once Niall doesn’t feel like he’s about to die, he tilts his face to the side and glares as much at Louis as he can.

“You fucking asshole! A warning would’ve been nice!” He snaps. Louis looks at him with glazed over and dazed eyes, a smirk playing on his lips. “Sorry, my bad,” he says with that mischievous grin that clearly tells he isn’t sorry at all. 

Louis kisses the back of his earlobe before straightening up and Niall doesn’t expect what happens then. His mouth falls open in a silent cry when Louis hand comes down hard on his ass. Niall whimpers, automatically clenching around Louis and Louis groans. Niall’s ass stings painfully from the smack and it take Niall a full five seconds to realize what just happened.

“Did you just fucking _spank_ me?” Niall asks flabbergasted. He twists his neck back to look at Louis and Louis is staring at his ass with this scary look; his bottom lip pulled between his teeth, eyes starry. “Your ass…” Louis whispers, voice stunned. “It goes all red and my handprints are on your skin…so lovely…” Louis says, smoothing a hand over the flushed skin and Niall whimpers breathlessly. 

“Don’t you fucking do it again or- _ah_!” Niall gasps when Louis does just that and on the same spot as before, sending small jolts of pleasure through Niall; not that Niall will ever admit that to Louis. “That’s it,” Louis says, his hand stroking Niall’s butt. “I love your ass. I adore it. worship it.”

“I’m going to kill you, you-“ Niall chokes on his words when Louis pulls out before slamming all the way in. Niall would’ve cursed him to hell and back if he wasn’t busy moaning shamelessly as the pain slowly is replaced with pleasure. Louis moves in a fast, rough pace that rocks Niall’s world, turning him into a wreck, a mess that can barely form words and it doesn’t take long before Louis finds that spot inside of Niall that makes him cry out Louis’ name, surprising himself just as much as Louis. Louis lean over him, twists his fingers into the hair at the nape of Niall’s neck, forcing Niall’s face to the side.

“Again,” he demands. “Say my name again.”

“L-Louis,” Niall whimpers as Louis sucks into his already bruised jaw; it’s going to be a mess no doubt. “Louis, Louis, _Louis_ ,” Niall rants as Louis pounds into him in a relentless pace that shakes Niall’s whole body. “Christ, Niall, you have no idea how badly you’re driving me crazy,” Louis whispers before he catches Niall’s mouth in a kiss; the angle is awkward and Niall’s neck is beginning to hurt but he doesn’t care as he kisses back with just as much passion as Louis. “You’ve been driving me crazy for _weeks_ ,” Louis says. “I’ve wanted to kill you and take you at the same time.”

Louis wraps an arm around Niall’s torso and suddenly he sits back down, bringing Niall with him. “Oh FUCK!” Niall exclaims at the sudden shift in position; he’s now sitting in Louis’ lap with his back pressed into Louis slick chest, the new angle allowing Louis to go deeper.

Niall is going to die, he’s going to fucking _die_. Is all that goes through his head when Louis lifts him up only to slam him back down on his cock and Niall’s falls back against Louis shoulder with a cry as Louis dicks deep into him. Niall works with Louis, bouncing on his lap until they’ve found a nice rhythm; slightly less rough than the former. Niall’s cock is standing against his stomach, heavy and hot and so neglected and needy for attention. Niall’s fingers wrap around the heated skin and he lets out a shuddering breath. He barely gets in a stroke or two before Louis bats his hand away.

“Don’t touch yourself,” Louis says firmly and Niall whines. “I-I need-“

Louis suddenly lifts Niall off and Niall feels incredibly empty without him inside of him. Niall’s legs are shaking like jelly and the only reason he doesn’t collapse in a heap of limbs is because Louis is holding him up. “Turn around,” Louis orders. “I want to see your pretty face.” Niall manages to turn around without falling over and Louis grabs his hip with one hand, the other closing around his cock lining it up with Niall’s hole.

Niall holds his breath as he lowers himself down, biting down his raw lip and he lets out a shuddering breath when he’s fully seated in Louis’ lap. He looks down at Louis who’s looking up at him with an amazed gaze. “You’re wonderful,” he whispers and his tone is surprisingly tender but before Niall can even think about it, Louis thrusts up in him, knocking a strangled cry from Niall’s lungs. Niall locks his arms tightly around Louis’ neck and lifts his ass, meeting Louis half-way, and he closes his mouth over Louis, swallowing his filthy moans. The sound of skin slapping against skin, wet kisses and heavy panting fills the air as they move together, the pulling of hair and biting teeth just a shade too painful but Niall wouldn’t have it any other way.

Niall’s cock is beginning to hurt unbearably all hard and trapped against their bodies like this; but Niall knows better than sneak a hand in and try to release some of the mind-numbing tension. He’s _so_ close, the tension curling in his belly tightening for every second, threatening to snap. 

Louis shifts their position for the third time when he carefully lowers Niall down until he’s on his back, his cock slipping out with an obscene sound but Louis quickly fits it back in and Niall lets out a content sigh, his arms coming up to hang loosely around Louis’ shoulders. Louis hooks his arms under Niall’s legs and begins to move into him again.

“Mmm close…so close,” Niall mewls, his head falling back as Louis sloppily kisses his chin and neck. He pulls Louis down so he can hold him to him and bury his face in Louis’ shoulder, taking in the smell of his sweat and fragments of his cologne; he smells like sex and man, wonderful. “Then come for me, my pretty princess,” Louis says, a tint of tease in his voice. He sneaks a hand between their bodies and grabs Niall’s cock, stroking it in time with his thrusts. That’s what does it for Niall and he goes higher and higher and then he’s seeing stars and the world explodes in white as he comes, coating them both; he gasps, his toes curling, body shaking.

Louis fucks him through it, the movement of his hips going erratic and frantic, losing his rhythm and he exhales deeply, lips locking onto Niall’s. Louis’ thrust turns shallow and slower, he brushes Niall’s sweaty bangs off his face and kisses his forehead gently. However, the gentleness is quickly gone when he bites into the crook of his neck as he comes with a muffled cry of what sounds like Niall’s name.

Louis moves over and collapses next to Niall, his limp dick slipping out. Louis pants harshly and takes off the plastic, tying it in a knot and throwing it toward the trashcan but by the sound of it, he missed. And then there goes a couple of minutes where they just lie there, trying to regain their breaths as they stare at the ceiling.

And then something just washes over Niall out of nowhere; or maybe it’s not out of nowhere entirely. His eyes begin to sting with tears and he tilts his face away. He can feel Louis heavy gaze resting on him and he bites down his raw lip. 

“Niall?” Louis says and then he’s putting an arm around the blonde’s waist, but Niall quickly shrugs it off. He sits upright, throwing his legs over the bed and sitting on the edge of it, sore body tense. He hears Louis sit up as well and feels his stare on the back of his head.

“Niall?”

“Leave,” Niall whispers.

“What?” Louis blurts

“Just go,” Niall says a little louder, his voice cracking a bit. “Get out.”

“What?” Louis says loudly, voice annoyed around the edges. “What’s wrong?”

Niall puts more pressure on his lip until it hurts. He clenches his eyes tightly shut and takes a shaky breath.

“You got what you wanted, didn’t you? As always,” Niall scoffs and shakes his head a bit. “And that’s all I’m ever going to you, a quick fuck and a little fool you can mess around with. A toy, that’s all I am to you,” Niall says, voice a little raspy.

“Niall-“

“Congratulations on being right as always; I can’t resist temptation. I’m a fucking hopeless slag,” Niall spits and he runs a hand down the sticky mess on his torso, stomach flipping with shame. “Just like everybody says. Hunter is right, I open my legs for anyone, don’t I?” He laughs shortly, hollowly.

He hears Louis move and then Louis tanned arms are wrapped around his belly, chin hooked over Niall’s shoulder. Niall tenses a little at the contact, but Louis kisses his neck softly until he relaxes.

“No, no you’re not,” Louis says quietly. “Haven’t I told you not to listen to what people say? they’re just trying to tear you down and only you can let them.”

Niall doesn’t say anything, just stares blankly at the opposite wall, trying to ignore the heat of Louis’ body.

There goes a moment of total silence except their soft breathing. Niall knows Louis is expecting him to say something, but he keeps his mouth shut.

“Do you wanna hear a secret?” Louis whispers into his ear. Niall shifts a bit, but still doesn’t say anything.

“… I was jealous.” Louis voice is barely audible and if his mouth wasn’t right next to Niall’s, Niall wouldn’t have heard it. This catches Niall’s attention and he turns 180 degree so he can look at Louis. Louis looks searchingly in his eyes, messy strands of auburn hair falling over his sea blue eyes.

And Niall waits.

“I was jealous of Zayn,” Louis confesses and Niall’s eyes widen a little; he stares at Louis, not sure what to think let alone feel. Louis stares back at him, eyes open for the first time. “I wanted to kill him when I saw him with you. I watched him doing all the things I knew I could do. And I could’ve gotten Chanel to back off, but I didn’t. Hoping Zayn would slip up and you’d break up.” Louis says without breaking eye-contact with Niall. “It’s the first time I couldn’t have what I wanted right away and it was driving me nuts. Zayn is my friend, I couldn’t just get rid of him.”

Niall barely dares to breathe too loudly, doesn’t even dare to move, afraid any sudden movement will make Louis pull away, make curtains fall over his eyes.

“What are you trying to say here?” Niall says, his heart going crazy in his chest, beating so loudly, Niall is sure Louis can hear.

Louis runs a hand through his hair, licks his lip and looks a little away. He swallows a little before looking back at Niall.

“I’m saying that I’m sorry for screwing you over,” He says and Niall nearly has whiplash; it’s the first time Niall has ever heard Louis apologize, he’s just never the type to admit his wrongs. “I just wanted to hate you so badly. And trust me, there’s a trillion times I’ve been so close to getting you thrown out; I even planned it out so carefully that you wouldn’t have realized what hit you before it was too late,” Louis continues with a wry smile. “But I couldn’t. Every time I came close, I backed off and fuck, I was frustrated with myself. No one has ever gotten so under my skin like you have and I blamed you because I didn’t want it,” Louis continues and Niall just stares, speechless. “I am not used to being wrapped around anyone’s finger; I’m the one who usually get people to bend over backwards for me just by saying the right things at the right time.”

Louis has grabbed Niall’s hand and is playing with his fingers. Niall doesn’t even think Louis realizes he’s doing it. 

“And I wasn’t used to be challenged and while I wanted to kill you, I was reluctantly impressed; maybe even amazed. Because you knew I wasn’t going to do anything drastic about it and instead of running with your luck, you pressed all the wrong buttons until I felt like I might combust if I either didn’t have my hands around your throat or my lips against yours,” Louis says. “When you punched me, I wanted to punch you back, but I wanted to have you as well. Obviously, the latter part won.”

Niall shifts a little. He tries to process everything Louis is saying and he tries to focus less on the fact that they’re sitting over for each other, stark-naked, while Louis speaks about his feeling in a way Niall never knew he was capable of; how many layers is there to Louis?

Louis gently strokes Niall’s cheek with the back of his hand, gently. He looks deeply into Niall’s eyes.

“You’re not a toy to me, princess,” He says with a smile. “I admit, I use a lot of people for my personal gain - most people actually - but not you. You’re different.”

Niall’s heart is going batshit crazy at this point and it’s beginning to hurt. And of course, Louis words have always meant more to Niall than Niall likes; small words or even looks of disapproval could change Niall’s mood for the better in an instant. It’s just the effect Louis had on people and the reason people flocked around him like moths to flame. Niall looks at Louis and he dares to ask;

“So? What happens next?”

And the mischievous smirk is back on Louis’ lips. He tilts his face to the side.

“Well, isn’t this where we go for a second round and keeps telling ourselves we hate each other because it’s much easier?” He asks, but Niall gives him an unimpressed look. Louis rolls his eyes a bit.

“…. Just kidding,” he says. He moves a bit closer to Niall. “…Look… I can’t run away from it anymore,” He says and peers into Niall’s eyes. “I can’t keep lying to myself…Niall, I want you,” He says, loud and clearly and Niall might just have a mini heart-attack. The blue in Louis’ eyes are so intense and pulling and Niall can’t look away if his life depended on it. “Not just this, I want everything,” Louis says.

If you asked Niall a couple of hours if he’d seen this coming; seen Louis telling him that he wants _him_ in more ways than just in bed, Niall would’ve laughed loudly. This…this is such an unexpected turns of event, Niall finds he can barely thinks straight. Though, he instinctively pulls his hands out of Louis’ hands and looks away. He can feel Louis stare at him confused.

“I can’t,” Niall whispers a bit shakily. “…I’m scared,” he admits, fresh tears brimming in his eyes.

“Of what?” Louis asks.

Niall looks Louis straight in the eyes with his next words.

“That you’ll hurt me…betray me… break my heart and tear my world apart, because that’s all I know now. I’ve given my trust and gotten it thrown back battered and bruised. One more betrayal and it’ll shatter beyond repair. And I can’t…I can’t go through that,” Niall voice crack and breaks and a single wayward tear trails down his cheek.

Louis catches the tear with his thumb and wipes it away.

“Hey,” Louis whispers. “Hey, it’s alright. I understand…give me a chance, yeah? I’ll show there’s more to me than you’ve seen; I’ll probably surprise myself, because you’re the only I’m willing to work for.” Louis says, pressing his thumb into the palm of Niall’s hand and stroking gently.”

Niall stares at him hesitant and conflicted. A strong part of him wants to fall into Louis’ arms and let him chase some of the darkness inside of him away. Another part of him is scared it’ll end in a burning crash that’ll leave him broken. It’s the part of him that’s still affected by what has happened in the past, all the broken promises and betrayed trust, the broken hearts and tears. Niall’s history of relationships has always ended up in disaster, even before he came to Prescott. 

Louis sees him being unsure and he takes both Niall’s hand in his.

“Come on,” He says, squeezing Niall’s hands. “I’ll show you what the world has to offer, all you need to do is close your eyes, trust me and make a wish and I’ll give you anything you want in a heartbeat; anything you desire is yours, all you need is to say it. The world is an oyster, let’s crack it open together. The world is at our feet - there’s so much more outside this school - I’ll take you anywhere you’d like.” Louis whispers sweetly into his ear and Niall nearly melts into him. He wants to sink into the whispered promises, but there’s another promise he needs.

“There’s only one thing I need,” he says and pulls a little away so he look into Louis’ eyes.

“Say it and you’ll have it,” Louis says.

“I need you to promise me…if I give you the most valuable parts of me…my trust, my heart, my soul…if I were to put them right into the palm of your hands like this,” Niall’s says and runs his hands over the palm of Louis’ hands. He looks at him with big, teary eyes. “Do you promise me not to crush them? Will you take care and treasure them?”

Louis puts his forehead against Niall’s.

“I promise.”

And then Niall cries and Louis kisses his tears away.

+

After another round of mind-numbing sex, Niall can barely move around and pack his bags. Louis does most of the job to be honest, but the whole things goes pretty fast since Niall hasn’t had the chance to pack out properly, so most things are still in their boxes.

Just then, a knock comes from the closed door.

“Hey…Niall?”

Niall’s eyes widen. It’s Hunter and he sounds a bit nasal; doubtlessly his bruised nose. Niall would not have thought Hunter would’ve come within a mile of him after Louis had nearly killed him. Niall glances at Louis. Louis looks murderously towards the door.

This could quickly get out of hand.

Louis moves but Niall quickly steps in front of him and puts hands down on his shoulders.

“Louis,” He says with a frown. “First test; don’t ever go near Hunter again and don’t even think about ruining his life by getting him thrown out of school.”

Louis’ left eye twitches.

“Are you kidding me, he tried to force himself onto you and-“

“No, it’s over,” Niall says firmly. “It’s In the past. Don’t do anything, alright?”

Louis doesn’t say anything. Niall stares at him.

“ _Fine_ ,” He says reluctantly. “But I’m not the only one you should be worried about,” he says with a smirk. Niall frowns worried.

“What do you mean?”

Louis shrugs carelessly and moves over and sweeps Niall’s underwear from Niall’s drawer. He shoves it messily into one of the bags, before lifting one of Niall’s boxers; one with Mickey mouse print and he eyes it with an amused smirk. Niall blushes.

“Oh, I’m not the only one capable of getting him out of school so fast his head will spin,” He says off-handedly and throws the pair of boxers into the back. “Zayn is perfectly capable of that as well…even sweet little Harry and proper and prim Liam. Wouldn’t surprise me if they’ve already planned it out nicely.”

Niall stares at Louis flabbergasted.

Louis smirks at him.

“Why do you think I’m friends with them?”

Before Niall can decipher his words, there’s another knock on the door. Niall walks over and opens it. Hunter is standing there and looking awful all blue and purple with bandages all over. Hunter stares at his bruised jaw, and Niall thinks he doesn’t notice the other purple bruises littering his neck.

“Oh god, I’m so sorry-“

“Save it,” Niall cuts him off a little coldly. “Are you alright?” he adds in a softer tone.

“I think I’m going to be, if Louis doesn’t try to murder me again,” Hunter says.

“I might!” Louis says loudly from behind Niall and Hunter’s face goes ash-grey so fast, Niall gets worried for him.

“I uh…sorry again…I have to go!” And then he’s gone faster than Niall can blink.

Niall shakes his head and sighs. Louis comes behind him and kisses his neck. 

“Oh bummer, I scared him off. Didn’t even get to talk to him,” Louis says with a mock pout.

“Louis,” Niall says warningly.

“Let’s get out of here, princess,” he says, giving Niall a wet kiss on the mouth and pulling him along.

“Wait! What about my stuff!?” Niall exclaims.

Louis looks at him with a wicked grin.

“Oh, I’ll get someone else to get them for you,” he says. 

And yeah, Niall definitely needs to teach Louis that their fellow peers aren’t his personal servants; but everything in its time.

+

It’s a rainy Sunday evening and pretty much everyone of privilege house is in the common room. Some watching TV on full volume to drown out the sounds of banging guns from the game a few boys are playing, some girls are painting each other’s nails in bright colors or doing each other’s hair, while other pretend they are studying while gossiping over their chemistry books. The vibe and atmosphere in the room is relaxed and bubbly happy; laughter and mindless chattering echoing in the room.

Liam is sitting in a corner and playing a board game with Jeremy. Zayn is playing a heated round of Fifa against Linh while Louis is sprawled onto the couch, switching from texting on his phone and watching the game; occasionally cheering Zayn on.

Harry, Niall and a few of the other girls are playing with Panda. Harry is dangling a pet mouse from it’s long tail in front of Panda, watching her pounce on it and giving her a “that’s my baby girl” every time she catches the mouse between her small paws. The girls are just sitting in the background and cooing at how cute Panda is.

Niall laughs heartily when Panda’s tiny claws digs into Harry’s hand by accident and Harry lets out a yelp of pain, scaring the kitten so it’s scurries into Niall’s lap. “Ouch! That hurt,” Harry whines and holds his hand out for one of the girls. “Kiss it better?” He says with big, innocent eyes and the girl gladly does so.

Niall rolls his eyes and strokes Panda’s small kitten ears, smiling when she purrs softly. Then, Niall feels a heavy stare on him and he looks up, meeting Louis’ eyes. Niall shivers at the pure intensity of his gaze.

Louis’ gives him that little mischievous smile at the corner of his mouth with a flash of teeth; that smile Niall likes to think is only meant for him. Louis gives him a wink before quickly looking away and going back to texting on his phone as if he didn’t just leave Niall’s heart in frenzy.

Niall and Louis both came to an agreement to keep their relationship on the DL for now. Both of them cared about Zayn and Niall might even still love him - he can’t get over him overnight - so neither of them wanted to hurt him. Louis briefly mentioned that Zayn isn’t the only reason they should be discreet, but never elaborated on it.

Either way, Niall knows that being with Louis is going to be unlike anything he’s experienced before. Maybe they’re destined to fly high or maybe they’re destined to crash and burn. All Niall knows is that he’s going to take things as they come.

One day at the time, it’s the only way he’s going to survive in this madness that has become his life.


	13. Chapter 13

“You’re up unusually early,” Conrad comments. He’s just now getting up from bed, a little bleary-eyed, looking at Niall with surprised eyes. Niall smiles, fixing his tie and running a few fingers through his hair and looks at Conrad through the mirror.

“Yea,” it’s all he answers, he tries to keep the smile from breaking out in a grin; he’s so bad at this, he thinks. Conrad just shakes his head, yawns a little before moving toward the bathroom. Niall checks the clock on his nightstand, grabs his bookbag and heads out.

The halls are deathly silent; the boys has yet to wake up. Niall tip-toes down his hall to the elevator, he doesn’t need to, but he does it anyway. He waits impatiently for the elevator to reach him and then he waits even more impatiently for it to reach downstairs.

He walks out into the foyer, gaze darting around. Nobody is out; good. He turns around and slips into the back of the building, until he reaches the door into the theater room. He stops up and listens for anything; there’s not a single sound except his breathing and heartbeat. He opens the door and steps inside. The lights are out and it’s pitch-dark inside. Niall searches for the flip, but before he can find it, a hand shoots out and grabs the front of his shirt, pulling him inside; the door closes heavily behind him.

Niall lets out an embarrassing squeak but a hand quickly covers his mouth. “Shhh,” someone shushes him and Niall smiles against the hand. He can’t help the giggle that escapes his mouth when a pair of warm lips misses his mouth and lands on the side instead. “Maybe I should turn on the light?” Niall says, hands moving up, feeling the body pressed up against his.

“No, it’s better like this,” Louis says and Niall can feel his smirk against his skin. “You can’t even find my mouth-“ Niall’s cut off when Louis indeed does find his mouth, shutting him up by kissing him in that overwhelming way that makes Niall forget to breathe.

Too long. It’s been too long. Niall thinks, fisting the back of Louis’ shirt and pulling him closer. He parts his lips for Louis’ prodding tongue and Louis tastes of toothpaste; a very delicious one, Niall has to remember to ask him what kind he uses. Louis’ kisses steals Niall’s breath away and when Louis moves down to his neck, Niall sucks in air greedily.

“Remember, no visible marks,” Niall breathes, gulping a little when Louis mouths at his pulse point. “Of course not,” Louis says, licking a long swipe up his neck. “I’m more cautious than that.”

“Of course you are,” Niall laughs a little breathlessly.

Louis is only supposed to kiss him, but he touches him as well; _everywhere_ and Niall is embarrassed when he feels his trousers tighten around his crotch. Of course Louis feels it and Niall can imagine his smug smile.

“Need help with that?” he asks and Niall chokes a little when he grabs him over his pants. “But-ah, we don’t have time, Lou,” Niall says. “We’re supposed to go down for breakfast.”

“I can’t let you go like that,” Louis says. “Don’t worry, I’ll make it quick.”

Louis drops to his knees and Niall’s protests dies in his throat when Louis makes a quick work of his pants and boxers, getting a good hold around him.

“Fuck,” Niall whispers, his head falling back against the wall.

+

Niall has a constant red tinge on his cheeks at the dinner table and he can’t look at Louis’ smug face without feeling like his own face will burn off. To say he came embarrassingly fast would be an understatement, but nobody in this world can blame him without trying to have Louis’ wonderful lips wrapped around their dick; god, Louis works wonders with that mouth. And that mouth is all Niall’s now.

Being in this thing with Louis can be great fun, but also greatly frustrating; especially when they have to hurry up or when they startle at the smallest of sounds. They’ve spent the last few days on sneaking around, stealing kisses, fleeting touches and lingering gazes; but Niall thinks that this won’t be enough for them for much longer. Like right now, Niall wants to interlace his fingers with Louis’ but of course he can’t.

Niall is snapped out of his thoughts when Zayn takes the seat next to him. “Good morning,” he says, smiles at Niall and Niall smiles back. “Good morning,” he replies; things have been good between him and Zayn lately. Zayn doesn’t look at him with that look that makes Niall’s stomach twists and he doesn’t ignore him, neither does he kiss every girl on every corner. Niall likes to think they can be friends. 

Niall looks at Louis, who’s already looking at him; Niall sends him a small private smile, kicking Louis feet gently under the table as if in “don’t worry”. Louis returns the smile before turning away and entering a conversation with the kid next to him.

Harry joins them on a table and Niall can almost see the invisible cloud floating over his head; he looks rather moody and cranky. He’s been cranky for the last few days. The kind of cranky a person gets when he doesn’t have his morning coffee; though Niall is pretty sure it isn’t lack of caffeine that’s making Harry act like a little monster. He has a pretty good idea but he shoves it away every time it nags him. 

Harry has been whining, complaining and snapping at the most trivial things lately; completely not his usual cupcake self. He drops down in a seat, so far away from Louis as possible and when Louis looks over at him, he sends him this murderous glare that Niall never would’ve thought he was even capable of. Niall feels nervous and gets busy with his food.

Not my fault. He says in his head. _Okay, maybe a little my fault_.

He can’t help but feel guilty. There’s no doubt in his mind just what has Harry in such a bad mood and who exactly is responsible for it.

Oh god. He likes Harry. Niall hopes he doesn’t turn out to hate him.

+

There’s been a sudden change since he entered this, whatever it is, with Louis. He slowly begins to notice the way his fellow peers just can’t meet his eyes, the way they scurry out of his path as if he’s going to stab them. At first, Niall thinks nothing of it, until it gets ridiculous; once in library, all the tables were stuffed so he had no choice but sit down a tthis table with a few other guys. as soon as they aw it was him, they hastily gathered their books and with a profuse apology, fled, leaving Niall gaping after them, completely confused. Then there is this lunch when Niall was standing in line at the cafeteria with Liam. This girl who’d been standing in front of him kept giving him nervous glances and squirming. She bought the last cookies and all Niall did was sigh and then she literally threw the cookies at him. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t know you wanted them!” and then she fled.

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that Louis has something to do with this. Niall just can’t figure out if people are reacting like this after seeing Hunter getting beat up for messing with Niall or if Louis did something else. Either way, he needs to talk with Louis and figure out why everyone has gone from spitting at his feet and acting like he’s Jack the Ripper.

Just before the last class, Niall sends Louis a quick text.

_“Weird day, meet me behind Gwendolyn?”_

He gets a text back the next moment;

_“Be there in 5.”_

He waits and Louis shows up a few minutes later. Before Niall can even blink, Louis has him wrapped in his arms, lips pressed against his in a deep, passionate kiss. Niall instinctively sinks into Louis arms, letting him kiss him until they can’t breathe, until Niall feels his mouth bruise. Louis pulls away and buries his nose in the crook of Niall’s neck, inhaling him deeply. Niall fingers Louis’ hair as he breathes Louis in; Louis always smells so good; like unicorn and rainbow dust. Niall muffles a chuckle.

“Mmm, missed you,” Louis says, lifting his face and stealing a quick kiss.

“O’really?” Niall says with a teasing lilt. “You were sucking me off just a few hours ago.”

“Too long,” Louis moans, pulling Niall along to a wooden bench. Niall drops down in Louis’ lap, momentarily forgetting the reason he asked him to meet him in the first place. “C’mere,” Louis says, grabs Niall’s hair and pulls him down for another kiss.

And yeah, when Louis kisses him this way, like he can’t have enough of him, Niall forgets everything else.

+

Niall decides he can’t pretend like he’s got nothing to do with Harry’s sudden mood swing. He should most probably talk with him. And that’s what he has in mind later the same evening.

He knows Louis isn’t in their room - because he’s been heavily making out with him in the library behind the bookcases and he left him there - so he charges right into the room and finds Harry there as expected. Harry looks up with big eyes when he walks in and Niall so doesn’t predict what happens next.

“Harry-“ Niall sentence turns into a loud yelp when Harry tackles him unceremoniously to the floor. “God, Niall, I need you so badly right now,” Harry rasps in this in such sexy voice that makes Niall shiver. Niall isn’t given much time to react before Harry begins grabbing for his dick, mouth pressing kisses into Niall’s jaw, every movement desperate. It takes a moment or two for Niall to come over the initial shock.

“Harry! Harry!” He shouts and with much difficulty shoves Harry off of him, he tries to roll away, but he doesn’t get far before Harry grabs him around the waist and pulls him into him.

“Please,” Harry whines. “Just help me this once. I feel like I’m dying, Niall. Nobody will know.” Harry begins to touch him again and Niall grabs a handful of his curls and tugs until he lets him go. Niall scrambles to his feet and backs away from Harry, he’s clearly lost his mind.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Niall asks and glares at Harry who looks at him with a kicked-puppy look. Harry groans and pulls in his curls with a frustrated motion.

“It’s just-“

Just then, Louis decides to enter the room and he takes one look at Harry on the floor and then Niall before blowing out an annoyed sigh. Harry glares deathly at him.

“Just tell me what I did, you dick!” Harry says to Louis. “Why won’t you have sex with me anymore?”

Shit. Niall knew it, but he kept telling himself something else was wrong. It had been obvious all along.

“Harold,” Louis says, eyes narrowed. “You can easily find someone else to get your dick wet. Stop being a little shit about it and go flash your dimples or something.”

“But I want you,” Harry whines and goes koala on Louis’ leg, wrapping his arms around the older boy’s leg. His hand inches toward Louis’ crotch but the icy look in Louis’ eyes stops him from going further. “Why are you doing this? I didn’t do anything wrong. You’re ruining everything; we had a good thing going on. don’t tell me you’ve turned monk overnight!”

Alright, Niall so doesn’t want to be here for this, but Louis and Harry are blocking the door. 

Louis shakes Harry off his leg before crouching down in front of him and looking him sternly in the eye.

“Listen-“ he doesn’t get much father and Niall’s eyes widen when Harry surges forward, more or less shoving his tongue down Louis’ throat. Niall first instinct is to walk over and strangle Harry; _mine_. He blinks a little, surprised by the possessive thought.

Louis grabs the back of Harry’s hair and jerks him away.

“Fuck you!” Harry exclaims and shoves Louis away. He gets to his feet and glares down at Louis. “You’re right, I can replace you in a heartbeat. Fuck you, Louis! Go fuck yourself, you aint gonna find anyone like me, you bastard!” then Harry kicks Louis in the kidney and storms out, slamming the door closed behind him.

There goes a moment of complete silence where Niall gapes, shocked at what just happened while Louis is wearing a similar expression, clutching his side.

“Oh fuck,” Louis breathes out, curling a little into himself. “That fucking hurts.”

Niall moves forward, kneeling down in front of Louis, putting a hand on his shoulder.

“You alright?” He asks worriedly. 

Louis’ lips quirk up in a smile.

“Yeah,” he says. “But if he thinks he’s getting away with that, he has another thing coming.” Louis says, standing up with a little difficulty; Niall follows him up.

“Uh, what are we going to do with him?” Niall asks, he actually feels quite worried for Harry; he looked very upset before he left. Niall hopes he doesn’t do anything rash; well, the worst he can do is trying to hook up with the librarian, Niall guesses.

“Don’t worry, I bet he’s hunting Liam down now,” Louis says. 

“Uh that just makes me more worried,” Niall says. He honestly doesn’t think Liam is ready for Harry’s advances yet and he knows Harry will take advantage of Liam’s curiosity. Poor boy. He hopes he doesn’t get traumatized or anything.

“Yeah,” Louis says dismissively, his hand suddenly coming down and taking a handful of Niall’s ass. Niall yelps surprised. “Hey, come with me, I’ve been wanting you all day,” Louis whispers hotly into his ear. Niall breathes in heavily. “But-“

“I want you and I’m going to have you.”

Alright then.

+

Louis is a monster; a monster with way too much stamina and a fucking tease. 

Niall hates him.

“Look at you,” Louis says, voice slow and sexy, his eyes dark as they rake over Niall. “All spread out for me like that; so fucking perfect. God,” He leans down, kissing Niall on the lips; slowly and languidly, too wet, but perfectly so. “All mine, you’re all mine,” he whispers into his ear, catching his earlobe between his teeth and pulling. A breathy whimper falls over Niall’s lips.

“P-please, Louis,” Niall whines a little, looking up at him. “I can’t…ug…I don’t think I can. Enough already-ahh,” Niall bites down his lips, writhes a little when Louis twists his fingers inside of him, pressing them just the right way; he’s so evil. He’s been doing this for what feels like eternity, opening Niall up, fucking him senseless, making him come too many times to be considered healthy.

Niall feels exhausted beyond belief and spent; he doesn’t think he can do this for a minute longer. Louis on the contrary looks like he’s just getting started. 

“I know you can, for me, princess,” Louis says, touching Niall’s sensitive prick. “Just once more, yea?”

“But,” Niall gulps when Louis begins to stroke him and it’s ridiculous, he shouldn’t be getting hard all over again; it shouldn’t be possible. Louis hooks his hands under Niall’s legs and lifts him up, Niall whines, clutching tightly to Louis. Louis puts him up against the wall of the theater.

“I know you want to be good for me, yea?” He says into his ear and Niall replies with a breathy moan. “You’re a monster,” Niall whimpers when he feels Louis prod at his entrance; god, he’s going to die if this goes on for much longer.

“Oh no, I’m just really crazy about you,” Louis says and then he pushes into Niall without warning as always and Niall hisses weakly, his nails digging into Louis’ skin as they’ve done all night; he knows for sure that Louis’ back is covered in scratches and small nail marks. 

Louis thrusts up into him, roughly and hard and way too fast and Niall has no choice but just hang on for dear life, clutching tightly to Louis as he tries to hold onto his slipping sanity. “You’re gorgeous, Niall,” Louis mutters breathlessly into his ear, his pace unrelenting. “I’m never going to let you go now that I have you.”

Niall’s face burns and he buries it in the crook of Louis’ neck, nails scoring down Louis’ arms and Louis hisses in pain. Niall bites down harshly in the juncture of Louis’ neck and shoulder, to keep from crying out as Louis hits just the right place, just the right way over and over again; and god, Louis might be a monster, but he’s _his_ monster. Always.

Niall can feel Louis’ rapid heartbeat against his, his labored breathing in his ear and then the edges of his vision blurs. He doesn’t succeed to completely muffle his sound and with a low whimper, his face falls against Louis’ shoulder as he reaches release, coming obscenely between them, on their already sweat-slicked chest.

Louis stops moving into him, even though he’s still thick and heavy inside of Niall and Niall weakly lifts his face, a little confused. Louis turns around and lowers him on one of the chairs, slipping out of him in the process. Louis discards the condom and Niall’s eyes widen a little when his dick bobs in his face.

“Fuck,” Louis mutters as he begins to jerk himself off and before Niall can discover his intentions, it’s all way too late. Niall instinctively clenches his eyes shot when Louis comes in his face; the cum heavy and hot as it hits Niall’s cheeks, the corner of his mouth and his nose, it even reaches his eyelashes, matting them, making them heavy when Niall finally dares to open his eyes.

“I hate you,” he says, looking up Louis who’s staring back at him with a sated expression. “No you don’t,” Louis smirks, scooping the cum on Niall’s cheek with a thumb and shoving it into Niall’s mouth. Niall obediently licks it clean, making a show of looking up at Louis while he does so.

“Don’t do that,” Louis groans. “Or we might have to take another round.”

“No way!” Niall splutters. Louis laughs, swoops down and places a sweet kiss on Niall’s lips.

+

“I want to spoil you rotten,” Louis says, playing with Niall’s hair. Niall hums a little distracted from where his head is resting against Louis’ chest. “Can’t wait to get the chance to do so.”

“By that, if you mean buying me all kind of unnecessary stuff, then no thanks,” Niall mutters, eyelids feeling heavy; he’s a little sleepy. 

“What? Why,” Louis says. “I want to.”

“Yeah, but, just no,” Niall says quietly. It just makes him feel somewhat of a charity case, even though he knows it’s not like that. He told Zayn the same thing. He doesn’t need all the fancy stuff. He just needs a normal, healthy relationship, which seems to be such a hard thing in Niall’s life.

“I’ll do it anyways,” Louis says undeterred. “Talking of which, the spring break is just a week away.”

Niall lifts his face a little and looks up at Louis; he uses a moment marveling at how gorgeous Louis is. 

“Yea, I’m going home,” Niall smiles. He’s been talking with his mother on a regular basis and she seems happier than Niall has ever heard her be; she’s been repeating over and over again that they’re expecting him to come home. “My mom is better,” Niall says, cuddling back against Louis; he smells of man and sex, they both properly reek of it.

“Yeah?” Louis mutters and Niall feels the vibration in his chest. 

“mmm,” Niall hums. “She’s getting help. She wants me to come visit. What are you doing?”

“What are _we_ doing,” Louis corrects and Niall looks at him confused. “Tell me, where in the world have you always wanted to go?”

Niall blinks a little.

“But, Lou-“

“Just tell me,” Louis insists.

“Uhm,” Niall rakes his head, he’s never thought of travelling, it’s never really been an option in his life; and if he thought of going somewhere, it would always be somewhere in the states, like New York, but he’s already been there twice.

“Somewhere in Europe, I guess,” Niall smiles, a little dreamingly.

“Paris?”

“Paris is such a cliché,” Niall says. “But I would love to see what all the hype is about.”

“Paris is lovely,” Louis says, running his fingers along Niall’s spine in such a way that rises goosebumps all over Niall’s arm; he shivers a little, Louis pulls him a little closer at that.

“You’ve been there?”

“Have a few friends there,” Louis says. “So yeah. It never gets old, going there.”

Niall tries to imagine what it’s like to be able to fly anywhere you want anytime because you have a private jet; wonders what it’s like to have friends all over the world that makes you feel welcome everytime you visit. He sighs a little wistfully.

“I can take you there,” Louis says into his ear. “Show you all my favorite places”. Niall smiles. “It would be great, but I have to go home,” he says.

“Why not both?” Louis asks and Niall looks up at him. “We could go to Paris and them come back and visit your parents all within a week.”

“Yeah?” Niall says a little unsurely. He has never been out of the states and he feels a bit wary about it, but it would be the perfect opportunity for him and Louis to be together without sneaking around; the stolen kisses and touches gets frustrating.

“Just say the word,” Louis says.

“But, I don’t have a pass.”

“We’ll fix that.”

Niall takes a deep breath and tilts his face, kissing Louis on the lips.

He pulls away and smiles.

“I’d love to.”

“It’s settled then.”

They kisses a little more before pulling away and just sit there, enjoying each other’s company.

“Louis,” Niall yawns a little. “I’ve been thinking about something.”

“Mmm?”

“Someone drugged Zayn,” he says then. Louis’ fingers stop playing with his hair. Niall pulls a little away and looks at Louis.

“Chanel drugged Zayn,” Louis says, looking at Niall with a raised brow. Niall shakes his head a little. “Yeah, but… maybe she did, but just a few hours, she said something to me,” Niall says; it’s been nagging his mind ever since, never stopped. Louis frowns. “What?”

“She said she didn’t have any other choice, that everyone’s lying to me,” Niall says, throat a little dry. Louis studies him for a long moment, long enough for Niall to grow nervous.

“And you believe her?”

Niall blinks.

“Well,” he shrugs. “She looked like she was telling the truth.”

“Looked like,” Louis repeats. “Did it ever occur to you that she was just trying to drive an edge between you and all your friends, which by the way, she nearly succeeded in.”

Niall stares at Louis. What he’s saying is somehow making sense. Except.

“But, why would she bother doing that? she doesn’t even know me,” Niall says. “Would she come to school to just screw me over and then leave? it just doesn’t make sense.”

“C’mere,” Louis pulls Niall a little closer and looks him in the eye. “Who knows what was going on in that chicks’ mind? Her plan didn’t work so she tried to mess with you before leaving. She knew I wasn’t going to let her go easily with what she pulled.”

Niall’s relaxes a bit and falls into Louis, his face against his shoulder.

“I hope so.” He whispers. He has a feeling things are only about to get even worse.

+

“Shhh,” Louis says as they tiptoe down the dark foyer, it’s midnight without doubt, but you never know who decides to take a night walk. Niall muffles his giggles and follows Louis. As they wait for the elevator, Niall’s gaze randomly darts around until it lands on a dark figure in the common room. Niall’s heart skips several beats and he lets out a girly scream, jumping into Louis’ arms. Louis grabs him, confused.

“What? What is it?”

Niall stares into the common room. There’s no one there. His imagination? 

“I-I…thought I saw someone in the common room,” Niall stutters with his heart in his throat. Louis looks toward the common room, which of course, is empty.

“Stay here,” Louis mutters and walks over, but Niall follows him nonetheless. Louis flickers on the light and Niall’s eyes hurts a little at the sharpness of it. He looks around, but there’s no one.

However, the glass-door out to the veranda is open; Niall swallows around the lump in his throat. “No,” Niall says and grabs Louis when Louis walks toward it. “It’s alright,” he says and eases Niall’s hold on him. Niall is positively shaking as he watches Louis up to the door. Niall is just waiting for some serial-killer with a motor-saw to jump out of the dark and assault Louis. But nothing happens, Louis looks around before closing the door.

“Someone must have left it open,” he says but he doesn’t sound convinced. Just then, Niall’s eyes land on a suspicious envelope lying in the middle of one of the tables. Louis sees it as well and they both move toward. Louis gets there first.

He slowly lifts the envelope up and inspects it from all sides; it’s long and flat. Niall moves behind Louis, clutching the back of his shirt as he watches Louis slowly open it. A gasp escapes Niall’s lips and his heart falls from his chest to somewhere in his stomach when he sees what it is.

A 10 x 10 picture.

A picture of them.

A picture of them kissing. Louis holding Niall around the middle and Niall’s fingers in Louis’ hair.

“What the…” Louis trails off when a card falls out of it and in the middle is written a text;

“Enjoy yourselves while you still can.”


	14. Chapter 14

Paris at night is all shiny and bright and beautiful and amazing. Niall is awed the minute his feet touch French soil and he tilts his face toward the night sky, closes his eyes and takes a deep inhale of the air. His face breaks out in an infectious grin.

“I’m in Europe,” he says dreamily, barely able to believe; he never thought he’d step out of the states. “I’m in _Paris_.”

“Damn right,” Louis says, coming up behind him and putting a hand on his smaller back, pecking his temple delicately. “And you’re going to love it.”

Niall cranes his neck to look at Louis and smiles brightly at him.

“Thanks for taking me here.”

Louis’ lips tilt up in a crooked smile.

“I’ll take you anywhere, anytime.”

+

Paris is all lights and shiny and pretty and the Eiffel towers over the city, proud and tall, the moon hanging behind it, full in all its glory.

Niall thinks this city is gorgeous.

He feels fingers fit into the gaps of his own and he tears his face from where it’s pressed against the window of the cab. He looks at the boy sitting next to him, giving him this small amused smile, doubtlessly entertained by how awed Niall is. And if Paris is gorgeous, Louis is even more so.

He’s sitting there with those intense ocean-blue eyes with the ever-present mischievous, devilish glint in them, all flawless, tanned skin, looking perfect in his ridiculously expensive designer clothes with his slightly tousled feather-soft auburn hair.

Niall feels breathless at how perfect he looks.

“It’s going to be great,” Niall says softly, squeezing Louis’ hand. 

“Oh, it’s going to be better than great, princess,” Louis says, gives him a smile with a flash of teeth and Niall’s heart beats a little faster. He turns back to the window, watches the unfamiliar streets in this unfamiliar city.

No doubt it’s going to be better than great; thousands of miles from all the drama back home, away from whoever is stalking them, just the two of them. Niall smiles into the window, sees his own reflection and the smiles widen. Yeah, it’s going to be _perfect_.

+

The suite they are to spend the next few night is, well, it’s quite ridiculous and Niall doesn’t even want to think about the price; he’ll most probably faint, all he knows is that it has probably cost more than he’ll ever earn in ten lifetimes. 

The suite looks so luxurious that Niall is almost too afraid to touch anything in case it breaks; everything is in shades of red and brown, vibrant red to soft, caramel brown and the first thing Niall does is throw himself on the large bed in the middle of the bedroom and he sinks into the ridiculously softness of it. 

“Oh, I don’t think I’ll ever wake up if I fall asleep in this bed,” Niall mutters, inhaling the fresh and rich smell. The bell-boy brings their luggage inside which really is just no more than two bags and Niall watches Louis pay him a few crisps bills and thank him in french; Niall’s stomach feels funny at the sound of Louis’ voice in another language.

“If it’s up to me, then you aren’t going to do much sleeping,” Louis says, winking and Niall blushes, hiding his face in a pillow.

“So, what now?” he mutters into soft pillow, but somehow Louis understands him.

“We’ll take it slow tonight,” Louis says, “We’ll take a shower and go for a short walk

Niall lifts his face, cheeks still tinged pink and smiles.

“Sounds good.”

+

The best thing of it all is that Louis doesn’t let go of his hands for a second as he points out café’s and restaurants with names that are too difficult to pronounce. They walk down cobble-path streets, under the lights of the city and the moon hanging in the sky and Niall loves every second of it.

He gets to see the Eiffel tower close up and there’s so many people there, so many nationalities and Niall feels privileged just standing there and craning his neck, trying to spot the top of the tower from where’s he’s standing at the bottom.

“It’s so beautiful, Louis,” he whispers. “It’s really beautiful.”

“Yeah,” Louis says and then he’s pulling Niall into him, Niall looks up at him, looks into his eyes and he feels weak. Louis cradles his neck and leans down, kissing him on the mouth and Niall’s body automatically goes pliant against his, lips parting obediently for the prodding tongue.

And as they stand there, kissing in public on the other side of the world, in one of the most gorgeous towns, Niall feels his life can’t get more magical. He came here with nothing, but now, he feels like he has everything. 

Louis pulls away all too soon and Niall looks at him, dazed eyed and silly smile on his lips.

And he thinks, he likes this boy a lot.

+

Niall absolutely adores waking up next to Louis, watching him sleep, looking all open, soft and vulnerable; a far cry from what mischievous devil he is when he’s awake. He loves the way Louis hair is all soft and tangled, falling over his face in messy tots, the way his lips a parted, even breaths leaving them. He just loves to wake up to a naked Louis who has a strong, tanned arm wrapped securely around him. 

Niall leans down and presses a sweet kiss into Louis’ mouth; Louis hums into it, slowly but surely stirring awake, subconsciously chasing after Niall’s lips when Niall pulls away, making the small blonde giggle into Louis’ shoulder.

Louis’ eyes flutters open and he looks at Niall with bleary eyes and lazy smile.

“Good morning, princess,” he mutters, pulling Niall down for a clumsy morning kiss.

“It’s noon,” Niall smiles. “And I still feel a little beat-up. is that what they call jetlag?”

“Nah, jetlag isn’t going to be so bad since we came here night-time,” Louis yawns a little before smirking at Niall. “Maybe I was a little too rough on you last night.”

“You think,” Niall says, cheeks pinking the slightest.

“I can be gentle,” Louis mutters, pulling Niall a little closer and Niall flushes when he feels his morning wood poking his thigh; he feels like Louis is hard half the time they’re together, and Niall feels very flattered. He thinks the only reason Louis would be gentle is because they’re both still sleepy and worn-out.

“Breakfast first,” Niall says into the crook of Louis’ neck, breathing in him in.

“Do I have to seduce you in French?” Louis says, a teasing lilt to his voice and Niall muffles his laugh into Louis’ skin, softly kisses a tanned shoulder. “You can try,” he says, and it’s not like he’s eager to hear Louis talk French in that morning-slow voice of his; just a little maybe.

Niall discovers out that the best thing in the world is Louis talking filthily in French; in perfect French nonetheless, voice rough from sleep and sinfully sexy. Niall drops his boxers - not that he was wearing any - the moment Louis opens that perfect mouth of his.

And Louis can indeed be surprisingly gentle; Niall loves that he can always surprise with new sides of himself. Louis has too many layers and Niall can wait to get to the very core.

The morning sex is all soft touches, lazy and languid kisses, and slow thrusts. Niall is amazed by how fast Louis learned just where and the right way to touch him to have him unravel underneath him. Louis starts out with moving lazily into him from behind in a spooning position, whispering in his ear in a language that shouldn’t sound so dirty so early in the morning, but Niall reveal in it all, rewarding Louis with moans of his name. Louis hovers over him then, his smiles just as lazy as his movements and Niall pulls him down, lips locking onto his and Louis begins stroke him in time with his thrusts. They come around the same time and Niall has never been a fan of a guy coming inside of him without rubber, but as he feels Louis all hot and pulsing and wet inside of him; he reckons he doesn’t mind at all.

+

They have a lovely brunch, sitting outside in the warm sun in a small Parisian café and Niall just soaks in everything, the people passing by; watching them, wondering what their stories are but the thought never lingers long because then he’s looking at Louis, sipping to coffee and he gets lost just watching him.

They spend the rest of the day roaming the cobblestone streets, Louis pointing everything for Niall in such great details, Niall knows Louis loves Paris as much as he does. They explore the shops and even though Niall insists he doesn’t need anything, Louis showers him with ridiculously prized items; clothes, shoes, bracelets, it gets to the point where Niall has to drag him away from the shops in fear he’ll burn his card all on him. 

“But I want to spoil you,” Louis protest and Niall shuts him up with a kiss.

“I’ve got everything I need,” Niall whispers against his lips, and he hopes Louis can interpret his words for what he means; the way Louis looks at him, gives Niall an idea that he understands.

They have a run-in with one of Louis’ friends, a man in his early twenties who speaks to them in thickly accented English, he’s all laughs and smiles and hugs Louis until Louis tells him he can barely breathe.

“Niall, meet Etienne,” Louis introduces. “Etienne, Niall.”

Niall greets the guy and he’s all charming words and flirty eyes, kissing Niall’s hand and making Niall blush when he tells him how attractive he is, but then Louis possessively wraps an arm around Niall’s waist and Etienne blinks surprised.

“He’s mine,” Louis says and although the smile on his lips, he looks annoyed. Etienne laughs and quickly apologizes for hitting on Niall and Niall feels warm all over, his fingers coming up and fisting the back of Louis’ shirt.

Louis just called him ‘his’ in front of another man and Niall’s heart is in a frenzy.

+

Louis takes him to every possible sight-seeing there is in Paris and Niall knows he enjoys watching go all excited and awed at every little thing he sees.

“You’re like a child,” Louis hums when Niall stops up to watch a man making animals out of balloon and Niall smacks Louis’ arm. “Whatever,” he says with pinks cheeks and Louis laughs, swooping down and kissing him. “But I like it.”

Louis buys him a camera and of course, Niall makes good use of it, he takes picture of everything and anything and as the day goes, Niall realizes he has taken more pictures of Louis than anything else; he can’t help it, the boy is the most beautiful sight Niall has ever laid eyes on. And Louis takes pictures of him too, capturing his reactions to everything and laughing at the particularly funny ones.

They watch the sunset paint the sky in vivid oranges, red and pink on a cruise down river Seine and while the city is bathed in artificial light, they kiss until an elderly lady next to them clears her throat loudly, making Niall burst into fits of laughter which he has to disguise into the crook of Louis’ neck. They dine at a small, cozy restaurant with great food and even better wine.

+

When the dark blanket is settled over the city, Louis takes him to his favorite night-club after they freshen up back at the hotel.

Niall is standing outside the bar to get some fresh air, letting the breeze cool his heated skin. He’s standing there when Louis joins him a few minutes later.

“Hey good-looking,” He says into his ear. “What is such a pretty thing doing, standing there all alone?”

Niall muffles his giggles behind his hand. Louis is clearly tipsy but Niall will play along.

“I’m here with someone actually,” Niall says, spins around to face Louis. Louis smiles lazily at him.

“Oh, yeah?”

“Mmm,” Niall steps a little closer. “It’s this guy,” he says, voice a little low so Louis has to step even closer to hear. 

“Tell me about him,” Louis says into his ear, hand coming up and resting against Niall’s hip.

“Well, he’s a little insane,” Niall whispers into Louis’ ear. “He’s insane and crazy, does things I wouldn’t do myself, and he can be a pain the ass sometimes,” Niall smirks when Louis muffles a chuckle into his shoulder. 

“Literally?” Louis smirks against the skin of where Niall’s neck and shoulder meet.

“Literally too,” Niall laughs. “He bends rules to get his way, he always gets what he wants, sometimes, _most_ times through unorthodox means, he can be narcissistic and a control freak and he lies and manipulates.”

Louis jerks his face up, staring at Niall with a taken aback expression; he obviously didn’t see that coming.

“But he’s also charming and insanely charismatic,” Niall smiles softly, lovingly. “He makes me feel more important than I am, he doesn’t care about a lot of people, but he’s fiercely protective of the small handful that matters to him, he knows exactly what he wants and doesn’t let anything stop him, he can be loving and caring when he wants to, he makes me lose my breath every time he kisses me and he appears perfect, but he’s got his faults,” Niall reaches up, brushes Louis’ bang out of his face. He looks deeply into Louis’ eyes and Louis looks back with an unreadable expression. “But I accept him for who he is even though I feel like he’s driving my head into a wall sometimes.” Niall is about to go in for a kiss, but then Louis begins speaking.

“And I’m here with someone too,” He says, voice a bit hoarse. Niall stills and looks at him. 

“Tell me about him.”

Louis’ lips quirks up in a smile.

“It’s this guy,” Louis says, teasingly mimicking Niall, but then he turns serious; “He’s a little naive and he has a tendency to get himself knee-deep in trouble and he’s the center of drama all the time, he messes up his relationships with people even though he doesn’t mean to, he easily falls victim for temptation, a weakness that keeps being his downfall and hurt people. He gives his trust too easily and gets it back bruised and broken. Sometimes, he feels like he doesn’t have anywhere he belongs, he feels like an outsider. Most times he doesn’t realize how much he’s worth, thinking less of himself, having no faith in what he can do,” Louis continues. Niall has stopped breathing, just stares wide-eyed at Louis.

Louis gently strokes a thumb across his cheek. “But if anything, he’s a fighter, a survivor and keeps getting up every time he falls, stronger than ever. He’s ambitious and hard-working and determined, he doesn’t get his success handed on a silver platter. He’s ridiculously smart and has a great potential; he’s going to make a name of himself, I’m willing to bet my life on that.”

Niall’s heart is thudding against his chest painfully and he can feel his eyes water up. 

“He appreciates the small things in life, he’s caring and lovable and sweet, he brings out a side of me I didn’t know I had and even though he isn’t perfect, I wouldn’t trade him for anything in this world.”

Niall’s mouth falls open, but nothing comes out, Louis’ words has rendered him absolutely speechless. No one has ever pointed out his flaws, but then no one has ever pointed out his good qualities the way Louis has. Louis’ words have always meant more to Niall than he was ever willing to admit. 

“Louis…I…” Niall shakes his head, tears blurring his sight. Louis shushes him gently, cupping his flushed cheek and Niall blinks rapidly until he can look properly into Louis’ eyes; the look in Louis’ eyes might as well be fire the way they burn into Niall’s chest and stirs something he hasn’t felt before. Afraid he might burst out in tears, Niall closes the small space between them, pressing a deep kiss into Louis’ soft mouth, a single tear escaping his closed lids. Louis holds him tightly to him and they just stand there under a broken street lamp with the Eiffel tower hovering in the background, kissing until they can’t feel their lips anymore. Niall hugs Louis tightly, never wanting to let go and he can just hear the moon and the stars and the buildings sighing in envy.

+

The next couple of days is spent going places they haven’t gone, taking more pictures, sharing more kisses and of course, having sex on every available surface in their suite; where Niall discovers that Louis is rather fond of spreading him out on the dinner table, hold him in place and just fuck into him. (not that Niall is complaining)

Their last night, the night before they leave, Louis goes out, saying “he’s getting something he saw earlier” and leaves Niall without further elaboration. So Niall is left to admiring the view from the balcony of the city and the tower and flipping through the channels on the flat screen.

When Louis comes back, he’s hiding something behind his back and has this smile on his lips that makes Niall increasingly nervous.

“Close your eyes,” he says, walking toward where he’s sitting on the couch. Niall eyes him warily. 

“Why?” 

Louis rolls his eyes.

“Just do it.”

Niall reluctantly closes his eyes and hears Louis opening something and then he feels Louis put something on top of his head. 

“Wait, don’t open your eyes,” Louis takes his hand and pulls him to his feet, guiding him a few steps away. 

“Louis?” Niall says nervously when Louis moves behind him, hooking his chin over his shoulder.

“Okay, you can open them.”

Niall opens his eyes to discover Louis has led him in front of a mirror and when he sees what is perched on top of his head, he’s not impressed in the least.

“Really, Louis, _really_?” He groans. “A _tiara_?”

Louis bites down his lip, obviously keeping down his laughter; that fucker.

“You’re princess, you need a tiara.”

“Fuck you,” Niall mutters and makes a move to remove the thing from his head but Louis grabs his wrists.

“Wait, at least let me fuck you in it,” Louis whispers sultrily in Niall’s ear, biting his earlobe and Niall’s face burns bright red.

“This isn’t going to be a thing, is it?” Niall says, breathing in quickly when Louis’ fingers slips under his shirt, teasingly brushing his nipples. 

“You aren’t going to force me into pink tutus and get off on it, are you?” Niall jokes, though he’s slightly nervous; he never knows that to expect with Louis, which is both a bad and a good thing.

Louis laughs loudly and unapologetically. 

“Don’t give me ideas, now,” he teases, before grabbing Niall and lifting him up easily. Niall makes a show of clinging to him. 

“I’m going to fuck you so hard, I’ll have to carry you to the jet tomorrow,” Louis whispers filthy in his ear as he carefully lowers him onto the couch.

“What a way to treat a princess,” Niall says with a roll of his eyes.

“Oh, I did say I would carry you,” Louis smiles and before Niall can retort, Louis kisses him.

So, Niall ends up letting Louis fuck him in that stupid tiara with the tv running in the background. Then this unimaginable thing happens. They’re in the middle of the act when they hear a way too familiar name on television.

“And now, pop icon Harry Styles will join us on the show and talk about the charity concerts he’s been doing for the last few days, come on in, Harry.”

Niall and Louis both freeze, their eyes snapping toward the television just as the girls in the audience screams like they’re being murdered. Harry steps into the camera’s view in all his dimply glory - looking exceptionally good in skintight jeans and a ridiculous shirt with hearts all over - he waves to the audience and they go even crazier.

Niall knew that Harry was using the break on performing several charity concerts on the west coast, mainly because Harry had invited him along. (Though Niall strongly suspects it was only a ploy to get him alone and get into his pants) though, he never expected to see him on TV while he and Louis were…well, having sex.

“This…is weird,” Niall mutters when Harry looks directly into the camera with that cheeky smile of his and Niall feels like he’s looking right at them. Louis suddenly laughs into Niall’s hair.

“It’s hilarious,” Louis says. “Just imagine his face if he knew.”

“He’d probably try to jump out of the screen and join,” Niall says. He watches how everyone seems to be hanging at every word dropping from Harry’s mouth like it’s the purest of gold; Niall understands the appeal, Harry is a loveable cupcake. “I always forget how famous he is.”

“Yeah, he’s a little fame whore,” Louis says good-naturedly and Niall gasps a little when Louis unexpectedly begins to move into him again.

So, yeah, that just becomes the weirdest sex he’s ever going to have; Louis fucking him roughly into the couch, the tiara nearly falling off and Harry being interviewed in the background.

So fucking weird.

But good. Great, actually.

+

“What is it? Why do you look so down?” Louis asks with a frown when they’ve settled into the private jet. Niall huffs out a sigh.

“It’s just,” he stares out of the window. “I don’t want to leave.” he knows he’s being silly, it’s time to go back to reality; his reality in drama-filled Prescott, but he doesn’t want to go back there. The few days he spent here with Louis was a breath of fresh air, an escape from the threat looming over their heads; the picture and the message attached to it is still there. Someone is out to get him, them, and Niall is scared they are going to succeed in tearing them apart, just as they tore him and Zayn apart. He has already accepted that his life in Prescott is never going to be easy, but he can’t accept the possibility of losing Louis.

“Hey,” Louis interlaces their fingers and squeezes so Niall looks at him. “It’s going to be alright,” he says. “We’ll figure out what’s going on, don’t worry, I promise.”

Niall smiles.

“I hope so,” he whispers. He really does. He doesn’t want the people he cares about to get hurt all over again. 

+

Niall feels tears in his eyes when he sees his mother waiting at them in front of their house. She looks so healthy and happy; Niall can’t remember the last time he saw her like this. He automatically drops his bags and throws himself into his mother’s arms. She doesn’t smell of medicine and tobacco; she smells clean and warm, she smells like _home_.

“Mom,” Niall croaks, never wanting to let go again.

“My baby,” His mother says, her voice thick with emotions. She pulls him away and studies him, touches his cheeks, his hair and grabs his shoulders. “You’ve grown so much. I missed you, sweetheart.” She pulls him into another hug and Niall just absorbs this feeling; this feeling he hasn’t felt in a long time.

“Oh, I’m so impolite!” His mother exclaims, first then noticing Louis who’s standing behind Niall in a respectful distance. “Louis, I’m so happy to have you in our home again,” his mother moves forward and Louis politely shakes her hand. 

“Nice to see you again, Mrs. Horan. You look lovely.”

“Thank you, sweetheart,” His mother says before her smiles grow a little nervous. “I must apologize for what you had to experience last time you were here. There’s no excuse for the way I behaved.”

“No need to apologize, it’s long forgotten,” Louis assures.

“Oh, you boys must be tired after that long plane-ride, come in, come in,” His mother ushers them inside where they are greeted by Niall’s father and brother.

Greg is already home and Niall watches his brother and father greet Louis - his father doesn’t act as aloof as last time, properly because his wife isn’t constantly on the edge of a breakdown - and Niall can’t help the foolish smile on his lips; it’s so crazy how much has changed from last time Louis was here.

After the greetings are done, they all settle at the dinner table where his mother has prepared Niall’s favorite; fried steak with purple hull peas, mashed potatoes and gravy, macaroni and cheese, and cornbread. Niall wants to cry in joy, it’s so long since he ate a home-cooked meal; let alone his mother’s and he never realized just how much he missed it.

Sitting at the dinner table with his family and Louis in their tiny kitchen is a different world from the glam and lux in Paris; it’s like his world and Louis’ world colliding and Niall realizes he’s grown fond of both worlds, though he wouldn’t give anything up for this.

“So, you and Niall must be really good friends,” Greg says nonchalantly and Niall nearly chokes on the cornbread. His heartbeat increases and he looks toward Louis. He expects Louis to just laugh and shrug, but instead Louis wipes his napkin and turns to look at Niall with a private smile.

“Actually,” he says and takes Niall’s hand under the table, but the action can be seen by everyone else. Niall sees his family peek to attention and his cheeks pinks slightly. “… we are more than friends,” Louis says taking his eyes off Niall and looking directly into Greg’s eyes. “We’re together.”

There falls a silence over the table and Niall squirms a little. Louis looks at Greg, there’s something challenging in his eyes; as if he’s trying to say “got a problem? I don’t care.” Greg smirks, slowly and approvingly. 

“That’s so wonderful!” His mother exclaims, breaking the nerve-wracking silence. She looks at him and Louis, eyes bright and excited.

“You’re so lovely together! aren’t they just the cutest, Bob?” She says, turning to said man. 

Bob’s smile is partly awkward, partly forced as he eyes Louis and Niall. Niall looks at him with big, pleading eyes, silently begging him to not ruin this for him; he knows his father can be a little overprotective, but this is not the time.

“Yeah,” he finally and nods curly toward them. “I hope you both the best.”

Niall sags a little in relief.

“Thank you, Mr. Horan,” Louis says, squeezing Niall’s hand a little.

“I’ll just skip the part where I threaten to punch your teeth in if you hurt him,” Greg says, voice light and playful. Niall rolls his eyes. “But…don’t knock him up, yeah?”

Niall’s mouth falls open, face burning off, his father spews the juice he’s been drinking all over himself, his mother laughs heartily, Louis just smirks; seemingly not affected at all.

“Sure.”

Niall shoots his brother a murderous look.

He’s going to kill him.

+

Niall gets to sit down and talk with his mother; talk about everything and nothing and wow, he never thought he was emotional but he cries in the end, because he has his mother back. It’s all he’s ever wanted. His mother cries too, keeps apologizing for the last few years and Niall guess he has it from her.

 

Niall curls up in his bed with Louis, all exhausted and jetlagged and yeah, maybe Niall’s bed barely fits them, maybe they don’t have a view of the Eiffel tower; but Niall loves this just as much as everything else. He has Louis next to him. That’s all that matters.

“I don’t remember the last time I’ve been this happy,” Niall tells Louis sincerely as they’re kissing lazily in his bed, “I’m so happy, Louis.” he whispers.

Louis smiles softly at him.

“I’m happy that you’re happy, babe,” Louis says, kissing his forehead softly, “I’ll do anything to keep that smile on your lips.”

Niall’s heart nearly burst and he hates himself for the sudden wave of sentimentality that crashes over him, but this is Louis and Louis has meant a lot to Niall right from the beginning.

Niall wishes he could freeze this moment and stay like this forever. He doesn’t want to go back to Prescott and Privilege House - all he wants is to stay with Louis in their happy little bubble forever.

+

Everyone back at Prescott are happier and more relaxed than ever, with new stories to tell. Niall realizes that he missed the other boys, Harry who tackles him in a hug, Zayn who gives him a warm smile and Liam with his kind puppy eyes. Yeah, he missed his boys.

 

Harry pulls out a pricy bottle of wine which he claims taste like unicorn dust and Zayn brought some special chocolate back from Dubai so they all file into Niall’s room, settling on the carpeted floor, Louis’ getting some glasses for the wine. Niall notes that it’s the first time in _weeks_ that they’ve all enjoyed each other’s company as a group and feels so _right_.

It’s all good humor and laughter and chatter and story-telling until it isn’t and everything comes crashing down.

Panda is playing with one of her toys on top of Niall’s bed when Harry suddenly says;

“Hey, what is that?” 

They all cease talking and turn to look. Panda is nipping at the corner of something; it takes Niall a second to realize what it is. When he does, his heart does this leap that has him scared that it’s malfunctioning. Both he and Louis jumps to their feet, but Niall gets to the bed first.

“Niall,” Louis says as if ‘wait’, but Niall is shaking when he pulls out an envelope from under his pillow; he swallows around the lump in his throat.

“What is that?” Harry says just behind Niall and Niall jumps a little startled at the proximity. “Nothing,” Niall is fast to say and attempts to hide it; if the content is the same as the last one, then the three boys in the room can’t see it. He feels sweat break out on his forehead when he hears Liam and Zayn crowding behind them as well. Louis reaches over as if to take the envelope, but Harry is faster and snaps it out of Niall’s hand.

Louis and Niall both freeze and Harry uses the opportunity to tear it open.

“Harry!” Louis exclaims and grabs Harry’s wrist, the only thing he achieves is the envelope falling to the floor, the content spilling out for everyone to see.

And it’s pictures, but not the same as before, no, they’re much, much worse.

It’s a bunch of pictures of Niall. 

Sleeping. In his bed. This bed.

Niall sleeping in his bed in Prescott which means these pictures were taken weeks before. 

“What the fuck,” Harry blurts.

Niall feels faint. He stumbles a little and Louis quickly grabs him around the waist. “Oh my god,” Niall whispers, panic bubbling up in his throat and cloaking his airway; he can’t _breathe_. “Oh my god,” he gasps for air but it won’t reach his lungs.

“Niall, Niall, _breathe_ ,” Louis says. “Niall, you have to breathe, please, calm down-“

Niall jerks away from Louis.

“Don’t you fucking tell me to calm down,” Niall shouts, eyes blurred with tears; he takes in a sharp intake of air, his lungs burns. “How can I calm down?” He says, voice wavering and he swallows down a sob. “These are pictures of me, Louis, pictures of me _sleeping_ , in my _bed_ ,” Niall begins to shake. “There has been somebody in my room while I was sleeping. T-they, they could’ve done anything to me, they could’ve _hurt_ me and I would be helpless, oh my god,” Niall is hysterical now and all the boys are staring at him worried.

“Niall,” Zayn says as he moves toward Niall to comfort him, but before he can, Louis pulls Niall to him.

“I can’t, I can’t, I can’t do this,” Niall sobs, curling in on himself and looking smaller than he already is. “I don’t want to do this anymore, Louis, please, it’s too much for me. I _can’t_.”

Louis cups Niall’s cheeks and forces him to look at him.

“I know, it’s too much, you’re right,” he says, voice soft and soothing. “But you’re going to be alright, you always turn out alright.”

Niall shakes his head, tears streaming down his cheeks uncontrollably.

“No,” Niall croaks. “I-I …Louis, I’m scared.”

“Listen to me, Niall,” Louis says. 

“Listen,” he repeats more insistently. “I’m _never_ going to let anything or anyone hurt you. Do you hear me? I’ll protect you. I’ll keep you safe. I promise.”

Niall takes a trembling breath and closes his eyes when Louis leans closer and kisses him, right there in front of the others. He gives him a long, warm and comforting kiss. 

When they finally part, Harry, Zayn and Liam are gaping at them.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, remember me? I'm not dead, I'm alive. 
> 
> I know I haven't updated this story in nearly two months and for that, I sincerely apologize! I'm so so sorry, I've been hit hard by writer's block and life in general. 
> 
> I haven't spell-checked this chapter, it probably sucks as a whole and I'm so sorry, I tried but it's been hard for me to re-connect with this story.
> 
> I hope you'll enjoy it nonetheless.
> 
> Thank you for your patience. I love you xxx

The Hathaways

Chapter 15  
the silence that follows is foreboding. The kind of vacuum of nothing, where you know that something is going to go terribly wrong.

 _The calm before the storm_. Niall thinks, heart thumping uncontrollably in his chest. He has his face half-buried in Louis’ shoulder, not brave enough to face the other’s reactions. His breath is shallow and the silence stretches into a tension so tight and sharp it’s seconds away from snapping.

Harry is unsurprisingly the first one to breach the silence.

“Holy shit.” He blurts, voice loud in the quiet room, something like incredulousness laced in his voice.

Niall flinches and despite himself, he lifts his face and turns to look at Harry, afraid of what he might see. He’s scared that Harry will look angry, or worse, hurt, but all he can see on Harry’s wide-eyed expression is that he’s surprised, baffled even.

“Wow, just what—“ Harry begins to say, but is quickly cut off by a much darker tone.

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

It’s Zayn and Niall has never seen him look so utterly and completely _pissed_ ; there’s blazing fire in his eyes, face carved in hard lines of fury.

Niall doesn’t breathe, a lacrosse ball sized lump growing rapidly in his throat and for a moment, he feels weightless, like he’s suspending over a gaping hole, just waiting to fall and crash. 

He can feel Louis is tense next to him and when Niall shoots him a quick glance, he is returning Zayn’s furious gaze with a look of boredom. Niall, by now, knows him well enough to know that it’s covering up for the apprehension in his gaze.  
Niall swallows around the now football sized lump in his throat.

“You son of a bitch,” Zayn spits venomously, “You, fuck, I should have _known_ -this is why you’ve been such a prick lately!” Zayn’s voice is rising dangerously in volume.

Zayn’s words take Niall by surprise. He had thought he’d been the only one who Louis had been a complete asshole towards, but apparently, Zayn had shared that treatment. But there’s absolutely no doubt in Niall’s mind that Zayn hadn’t had it as bad as Niall, or Niall would’ve known. That’s what he likes to tell himself at least.

Liam, who looks wide-eyed and confused, puts a calming hand on Zayn’s shoulder, but Zayn viciously shakes off his hand and takes a step toward Louis and Niall. Niall subconsciously tries to make himself smaller than he already is, eyes darting away from Zayn’s thunderous gaze. Louis, on the other hand, stands stock still and silent, eyes just a tad narrowed at the Prince.

“You such a _hypocrite_ ,” Zayn fumes, “where’s all the loyalty bullshit you constantly spout, huh? All the ‘we’re brothers, we’ve got each other’s backs!? It doesn’t apply to the all might Louis Tomlinson, does it!?”

“Zayn, please—“ Niall begins in an annoyingly small voice though the look of pure disdain Zayn shoots him makes the words die on his throat and he takes a few steps back, shocked. He hadn’t thought Zayn could look at him like _that_ , but apparently, he’d been wrong.

“Shut the fuck up,” Zayn snaps heatedly.

“Calm your tits, Prince,” Louis says, his voice quiet but annoyed. “There’s no need to get your panties in a twist.”

Zayn’s storming gaze snaps back to Louis and he looks like he wants to strangle the last breath out of him. Suddenly, a look of realization appears on Zayn’s face before it darkens considerably.

“It was you, wasn’t it?” He breathes, wide eyes accusing and unforgiving.

“What?” Louis asks, the tension under his bored voice painfully obvious to Niall.

“You _drugged_ me, you sick bastard!” Zayn nearly screams and he’s suddenly dangerous close to Louis, a mere meter separating them and Niall feels like he might faint from the killer-vibes Zayn is exuding.

“Get your shit together you fucking dumbass!” Louis growls, pushing Niall out from between them so he can face Zayn properly. “That chick that was obsessed with you drugged you! Don’t put the blame on me!”

“You are lying!” Zayn spits and he’s actually shaking. “It makes perfect sense. You’d do absolutely _anything_ to get what you want, including drugging your own _friend_! There’s no boundaries for someone as fucked up as you, are there!? I could have _died_ you psycho!”

“Back the fuck off!” Louis spits, just as much heat in his voice as Zayn’s. “Call me a psycho one more time and I swear to God I’ll-“

“You’ll _what_?” Zayn interrupts, challenging.

They’re so close now, they’re more or less breathing each other’s air and the tension is stretched so far and thin, it’s unavoidable that it’ll snap soon. Niall can’t move from where he’s rooted to the spot, staring uselessly at the catastrophe unfolding and blaming himself all the same.

Thank God for Liam and Harry who both move to intervene.

“Hey, hey now, why don’t we take a deep breath?” Harry says, laughing nervously, face a bit pale as he pushes himself between Zayn and Louis to prevent them from ripping each other apart. He pushes a hand against Zayn’s chest.

“Don’t touch me!” Zayn rips Harry’s hand off of him with a snarl, though Liam grabs him and manhandles him, forcefully dragging him a safe distance away from Louis.

“Get off, Payne!!” Zayn struggles against Liam’s hold, but he’s considerably thinner and smaller than Liam who has no problems holding him back. Realizing the futile struggle, Zayn stops trashing.

Zayn takes a deep, shaky breath before turning to Louis with a gaze so frosty, Niall is surprised that Louis doesn’t freeze up on the spot.

“I’m done with you,” he says, slowly and clearly.

Harry gasps loudly, clear shock on his face. Louis indifferent and bored expression cracks for a moment, but a moment long enough for everyone to see the shock on his face.

“I’ve been there for you, through all your shit since day one, remember that?” Zayn says and through the cynical smile, Niall senses the obvious hurt. 

Louis remains silent.

“All I got in return was a stab to the back, though I should have seen it coming, shouldn’t I?” Zayn scoffs, “Shame on me. You think you’re so high and mighty and that you can do whatever the fuck you want without facing any consequence, isn’t that right?” Zayn smirks, though his eyes remain icy. “I can’t wait to the day you fall, and I’m not going to be there to pick you up. Fuck you Louis Tomlinson, just _fuck you_.”

Zayn turns to walk away, and Niall finally finds his voice.

“Zayn, wait-“ He steps forward and Zayn stops up and turns to him.

“Are you happy with yourself?” Zayn asks as he looks at Niall with eyes that makes the blonde look away in shame. “You’re surely destroying everything and everyone.”

“That’s enough,” Louis snarl.

Zayn doesn’t pay him any mind, “He’s been manipulating you since day _one_ ,” Zayn continues and Niall’s gaze snaps up to see the look of pure pity Zayn is giving him; like he feels genuinely sorry for him. “He’s been forming you into exactly what he wants and you don’t notice because you’re so blind and oblivious.”

Zayn’s words pierce through Niall’s skin like a thousand of tiny needles, bleeding into his blood like poison and Niall wants to shout _no, stop, that’s not true_ , but his mouth is sewed together and all he can is to stare at Zayn.

“Shut the fuck up, Zayn,” Louis spits now and tries to move forward but Harry holds him back.

“Please, Lou, stop,” Harry pleads.

“But hey, you’re no better than him, you’re actually perfect for each other,” Zayn says, “I hope you crash and burn and drown in each other.”

Satisfied with having left the whole room speechless, Zayn turns on his heels and walks out. 

Liam stares at the door, looks back at Louis and Niall, gives them both a sad, disappointed look before he turns and runs after Zayn without looking back. 

The strings that been suspending Niall snaps and Niall falls down on his bed like a useless rag doll, unable to digest Zayn’s words and the fact that he’d successfully torn apart a group of boys that been friends long before he came into the picture.

Louis stares at the door, unmoving, face expressionless, most probably unable to fanthom that he’d just lost Zayn and most probably Liam as well, who obviously was taking Zayn’s side. 

“Well, that was horrible,” Harry says, big green eyes sad and unsure as he stares at the door as well, where two of his best friends just disappeared through. He takes a step in the direction and Louis’ gaze snaps toward him, sharp as razors.

“Don’t you fucking dare walk out that door, Harry,” Louis _orders_ , voice firm and hard, though Niall knows, he’s just as afraid of losing Harry as Niall is. Harry turns to look at Louis with a deep frown, before he shakes his head, running a hand through his curls.

“I wouldn’t leave you, ever,” he mutters, looking down at his shoes for a moment before looking at Louis “either one of you.” 

Harry lets out an exasperated sigh.

Niall looks up at Harry, weary and apprehensive.

“You okay…with this?” he asks, because Harry shouldn’t be okay with this, there’s nothing _okay_ with this and Zayn had every right to flip as he did. Harry should too. Niall doesn’t deserve less.

Harry shrugs. “It’s a bit fucked up and weird, you know?” Harry gives Louis a glance, “Zayn isn’t going to warm up to this in like… _ever_.”

Niall feels impossibly exhausted, like he has just run 1000 laps. The relief that Harry is somewhat okay with this isn’t enough to lighten the heavy load of Zayn’s words.

“Oh my God,” Niall whispers, burying his face in his hands, tears prickling his eyes. “What have we done? What have _I_ done?”

He’s wrecked as many relationships as he’s been in, Danielle’s words of him leaving destruction wherever he goes and Zayn calling him a _tornado_ echoes through his mind, and he knows they’re right. What he’s done, what he’s _doing_ is not right. He’s an awful human being and every awful thing that has happened to him, he deserves it.

“Niall,” Louis’ voice cuts through his self-loathing thoughts and Niall lifts his face from his palms and looks at Louis through tear-blurred eyes. 

“Don’t believe just said,” Louis says firmly, “He’s just hurt and angry.”

Niall stares at Louis for a moment, Zayn’s words about Louis are quickly travelling through his bloodstream and poising his heart. He doesn’t want to believe Zayn, but even he isn’t stupid enough to not see that everything that has happened the past month has been shady. He still doesn’t know for sure if Chanel really was the one to drug Zayn and it unsettles him. 

“I hurt him, I hurt him badly,” Niall sniffles.

“The truth hurts,” Louis says with a shrug like he couldn’t give a rat’s ass about Zayn’s feelings and Niall hates that Louis is putting up this act when he obviously cares about Zayn.

“He’s your friend Louis, he’s our friend,” Niall says quietly, rubbing at his wet eyes.

Louis lets out a breath.

“What can we do about it now, Niall?” he asks, “He’ll get over it soon enough.”

Niall was 100% sure that Zayn wasn’t going to get over it anytime in the near future. Actually, he was pretty certain that Zayn, as he said, was done with both of them.

“Doubt he will,” Harry mutters in the background and receives an annoyed look from Louis. Harry rolls his eyes and puts up his hand up in defense.

Niall stares at Louis, at this beautiful boy who has an obsession with controlling anything, at this boy who can be so full of himself, at this boy who is a compulsive liar, at this boy that doesn’t fail to take Niall’s breath away -- both in a bad and good way. And he wonders if he’s been delusional when he thought this would work out, he wonders if they’re really destined to doom as Zayn is so sure of.

“You didn’t do it, right?” he blurts.

Louis looks taken aback.

“What?” he asks, brow raised slightly, though Niall knows that he knows what Niall is asking.

“Look me in the eye and tell me you didn’t do it,” Niall whispers, successfully keeping his voice from quivering.

“Are you serious right now?” Louis asks, eyes narrowing a bit and he looks betrayed; like he can’t believe Niall would question him to do that. “I already told you, didn’t I? _Countless_ of times.”

“Tell me again,” Niall says, pulling his bottom lip into his mouth.

Louis searches Niall’s gaze for a moment, a moment long enough to make Niall anxious.

“I didn’t do it,” Louis says then, slowly and clearly.

_”Everyone is lying to you.”_

Chanel’s words from all the days ago stirs up the cloud of doubt surrounding Niall and as much as he would love -- more than anything in this fucked up world -- to believe in Louis, to knock her words out of his head, the truth of the matter is, he _can’t_. He hasn’t been able to trust Louis, at least not fully, for a while now. He can’t begin just by the power of wanting to.

“You don’t believe me,” Louis says flatly and removes the hand he’d had on Niall’s thigh, getting to his feet. 

“What?” Niall says defensively as he gets to his feet as well to be on eye-level with Louis, “After everything Louis, do you honestly think I can just trust you?”

Louis stares at him with a gaze so intense and so unreadable that Niall almost lowers his gaze, but he stubbornly keeps his eyes locked with Louis. Tension crackles in the air between them and Niall is just about to snap when Harry speaks up.

“Guys, I hate to interrupt, but what are those creepy pictures all about?” Harry’s voice cuts through the tension and they both turn to see him kneeled by the pictures and examining them with a mixture of curiosity and confusion.

Niall’s stomach lurches as he’s reminded of them and he’s almost certain he’s going to throw up his lunch. His knees feel weak and he’s about to collapse back on the bed when he feels a steady, calm hand on his back.

Niall meets Louis gaze and despite everything, Louis fierce, ocean blue eyes don’t cease to soothe him.

Louis gives him a look that Niall translates as, “alright?” and Niall replies with an unconvincing nod. Louis squeezes his hip, before moving over to where Harry is, gathering the pictures and looking through them.

“A deranged person’s work,” he says with a scoff, shaking his head. “This is fucking disturbing.”

“Seems like you have a stalker, Niall,” Harry says, not taking his eyes off one of the pictures, “but hey, it could’ve been worse.”

“How?” Niall asks tersely.

“You could’ve been caught drooling or in some kind of embarrassing position, but luckily, you look quite adorable in those,” Harry says with a laugh, shooting Niall a cheeky wink.

“Comforting,” Niall replies sarcastically.

It’s just then that Conrad decides to arrive to the room, stuffed duffel-bag hanging across his chest, face relaxed from the brief vacation and eyes bright.

“Hey guys,” he greets as he walks in and dumps his duffel bag on the floor.

“Connie, the man I’ve been looking for,” Louis says in an over-bearing tone that doesn’t sound like good news and Conrad must also hear it, because he turns to Louis with a nervous expression.

Louis has gathered the pictures and drags Niall’s desk chair to the middle of the room.

“Why don’t you take a seat?” Louis asks with a smile, though the order in Louis’ tone can’t be mistaken. Conrad’s expression is a mixture of confusion and apprehension. He stares at Louis as if trying to determine whether this is some kind of prank—Niall is looking at Louis with the same questioning expression.

“Eh—ok?” Conrad says when Louis’ eyes cloud over with impatience and he shuffles over, carefully sitting down on the chair. 

“Look at those,” Louis orders and unceremoniously drops the pictures in Conrad’s lap, Niall almost protests, not a fan of Conrad knowing that his roommate once again has gotten himself knee-deep in shit. “Do they look familiar to you?”

Conrad looks absolutely confused and puzzled as he looks through the photographs. He looks at Niall with a frown.

“They’re pictures of Niall sleeping,” he says and twists his neck to look at Louis who’s hovering behind him. “But, I don’t understand why you’re showing them to me?”

“I don’t know,” Louis shrugs, places his hands behind his back and slowly walks around so he’s standing in front of Conrad. “You wouldn’t happen to have anything to do with it, would you?”

Conrad blinks. Niall watches the scene with baited breath; he believes that Conrad hasn’t done it, it would be too obvious, besides Conrad doesn’t have anything against him; most of the time, Niall actually thinks Conrad has no opinion of him whatsoever. Now that he thinks of it, he knows very little of the guy considering they’ve been rooming since the school year started. That is partly Niall’s fault has he has been a ‘little’ busy last semester, but the guy hasn’t exactly gone out of his way to talk to Niall either. That’s not necessarily a bad thing; Conrad is just a man of few words.

“No,” Conrad says firmly, meeting Louis’ gaze. “I have no idea what they’re supposed to be.” He looks at the others. “What’s going on?”

Louis rests his hands on the arm leans of the chair, leaning closer to Conrad, forcing the boy to look back at him. Louis looks at him for a moment without saying anything.

“So, you have nothing to do with them?” Louis asks, slowly and clearly.

“No,” Conrad repeats just as firmly as before.

“You don’t know anything about them?” Louis asks, eyes narrowing. “Considering someone took them in this room.”

“I swear,” Conrad says slowly, looking back into Louis’ hard eyes. “I know nothing.”

Louis stares at Conrad with such an unnerving gaze and for such a long minute that Niall is surprised Conrad doesn’t melt on the spot. The poor boy is beginning to look nervous though. Louis smiles then; a very, very eerie smile that even scares Niall a little. 

“You know what’s going to happen if I find out you’re lying?” Louis says quietly, but darkly. “I know all about what you did back in July.”

Conrad’s eyes widen in shock and his mouth falls open as he stares at Louis.

“I-I…” he trails of miserably and Niall watches as he breaks out in sweat. Louis just gives him that smug smirk that screams _”I know everything”_ , it’s extremely unnerving, but sexy in a dark kind of way; Niall blinks, surprised at his own thoughts.

Conrad legitimately looks like he’s about to cry, which Niall would never have thought he’d see, when Louis finally has mercy on him.

“You can leave.” He says, voice toned down to one of extreme boredom as he straightens up giving Conrad room to flee.

Niall is a second away from pointing out that this is Conrad’s room and he shouldn’t have to leave, but before he can even open his mouth, Conrad storms out of the door.

“ _What_? What did he do ‘back in July?” Harry blurts and stares curiously at Louis

Louis gives him a dismissing wave, narrowed eyes on the photographs.

“There are much more pressing matters at hand, Harold.”

+

There’s someone standing in the door. A tall, dark silhouette blocking the doorway, unmoving.

Niall’s breath is caught in his throat, eyes frozen wide at the figure and he tries to remain as stock still as the dark sillhoutte, feeling that the moment he moves, he’ll be dead. His heart was hammering against his ribs as if they were trying to find a way out. 

He can’t hear Conrad’s snoring; he never thought he’d want to hear it as badly as right then. He doesn’t dare flick his gaze in the direction of Conrad’s bed, because he knows as surely as he knows the sun rises from the east and set in the west that the moment he takes his eyes off his person, he’s going to die.

He contemplates to scream his lungs out, wonders if someone will come to his rescue. As soon as that thought has entered his mind is when the long figure lunges at him and Niall screams.

“ _No_!” Niall bolts upright gasping and sweating like he’d been working on a field for hours. His heart is racing like a train, wide eyes darting around the room for his attacker but there’s no one.

Where is he? _Where_ is he? The fear and panic is strangling him, still caught in the grips of his nightmare. Just then, something warm touches his arm and Niall jumps with an embarrassing squeak, flails and falls over the bed, the floor greeting him harshly.

Niall is about to stumble to his feet and just _run_ when a familiar, firm voice cuts through his nightmare post-haze.

“Niall? _Niall_.”

The bed creaks as another body climbs off and then Niall is being enveloped in an embrace, a scent so familiar washing over him that he immediately relaxes.

“Shhh, it’s alright, you’re alright,” Louis’ voice is thick with sleep but nonetheless soothing, “I got you.”

“What’s going on?” Harry’s groggy voice says from the other end of the room, voice worried and confused. “Are you guys alright?”

Niall, still shaking from the aftermath of the nightmare, feels his cheeks grow hot at the embarrassment of have woken the both up and he hides his face in Louis’ shoulder.

“Everything’s alright, Haz, go back to sleep,” Louis mutters. Harry mutters something unintelligible and Niall assumes he has drifted back to sleep.

“C’mon.” Louis helps him back on the bed, cuddling him close and carding his fingers through his hair. “A nightmare?”

Niall looks at Louis’ half-asleep features bathed in the moonlight. Niall nods, looking down embarrassed. 

“It’s alright, you’re safe now.” Louis whispers softly. Niall gives a tiny nod and cuddles closer to Louis, tucking his face in the crook of Louis’ neck as he tries to find comfort in Louis’ steady heartbeat. 

 

Louis falls back to sleep almost immediately, meanwhile Niall is kept wide awake by his storming thoughts and questions circling in his head.

Who is stalking him? Why are they stalking him? Are those photos some kind of warning? Why is this happening again? And so on and so forth. Niall sighs, knowing he isn’t going to get more sleep.

At some point, he hears rustling from Harry’s side of the bed and some turning and soft sighs. 

“Harry?”

There’s a beat of complete silence.

“Yeah?” Harry’s groggy voice replies then.

“Can’t sleep either?” Niall asks, speaking quietly as to not disturb Louis.

“Nope.”

“Sorry.”

“For what?”

“Waking you.”

“Are you alright?”

“…been better.”

“Hey, Niall?”

“Yeah?”

“I know exactly what we need.”

Niall’s eyes have adjusted to the dark, so he turns his gaze in the direction of Harry’s bed. The boy is sitting up, lanky body bent a little and he’s rummaging through his drawers. Niall watches him extract something he can’t quite make out from the distance.

“What’s that?” He asks curiously. 

“Come and see,” Harry replies with a grin.

Niall hesitates for a moment—blame his unhealthy curiosity— before he carefully extracts himself from under Louis’ arm and softly pads across the carpeted floor, crawling onto Harry’s bed.

Harry is holding a small Ziploc in his hand and before Niall can inspect the content further, Harry, _outoffuckingnowhere_ shoves a thin joint in his mouth. 

Harry can be so unpredictable and predictable at the same time, it’s fucking ridiculous.

Niall is actually stunned into silence and stares at Harry as the boy lights a match, holding the flame under Niall’s joint. 

“Harry-what the fuck— _no_ ,” Niall says, ducking the flame and removing the joint from his mouth. 

“What?” Harry asks, blinking with his big green eyes.

Niall stares at him.

“We are not smoking a fucking joint at 3 in the morning!”

Harry raises a brow.

“Why not?”

“Because--!” Niall loses steam and he shuts his mouth tightly.

Harry smirks and grabs the joint out of Niall’s hand, putting it in his own mouth and taking a deep inhale after lighting it, exhaling slowly. 

“Here,” Harry says with a lazy smile, holding the joint out for Niall to take. “It’ll help you relax.”

Niall stares between the joint and Harry’s face. Under any other circumstance, Niall would’ve said no, but he feels like he might end up on the psychiatric ward in the very near future, so he says _fuckit_.

He takes the joint, rolling his eyes at Harry’s silent cheer and sucks in deep.

Soon enough, they are huddled up against the headboard of Harry’s bed, Panda curled in Harry’s lap as they lazily pass the joint between them.

“Hey, Harry?” Niall says slowly.

“Mm?” Harry hums.

“Are…are you sure you’re okay about this?” Niall asks slowly, nervously.

“About what?” Harry asks, absentmindedly stroking Panda’s soft fur.

Niall swallows, “About Louis and I?”

“I’m not the one you should be worried about, Ni,” Harry says with a shrug, “As long as it ends in some steamy threesome, then I’m good.” Harry says with a wolfish smirk and Niall groans, punching Harry lightly on the shoulder.

“I’m trying to have a serious conversation here,” he says, a bit exasperated by Harry’s ability to turn everything into sex. “I’m serious, are you _sure_ you’re okay with this?” he asks, remembering the day not so long ago when Harry had more or less flipped when Louis had refused to sleep with him.

“Because, if you aren’t then,” Niall takes a deep breath, “I won’t do anything to hurt you, Harry. You mean a lot to me. I don’t want to lose you too.” Niall is growing a little more emotional than he wants to, but he can’t help it, he has a stalker and the loss of two friends to deal with. 

“Awww!” Harry coos, slinging an arm around Niall’s shoulder and hugging him close. “You mean a lot to me too!” he said, smacking a big wet kiss on Niall’s temple.

“And seriously, I’m cool,” Harry says, passing the joint to Niall. “It kinda sucks, because Louis and I had some great sex, but I’ll have to find something else. No big deal though, don’t worry.”

Niall isn’t fully convinced yet.

“Are you sure?” He repeats like a broken record. “You aren’t…in love with him?” He forces the words out of his mouth. He knows that Harry has confided in him before that not only wasn’t he in love with Louis, he’d never been _in love_ , yet Niall wants to make absolutely sure that he isn’t going to lose Harry.

“Because if you are then you can tell me, I will stop this if it means—“

“Shhhh,” Harry shushes him by shoving the joint in his mouth. “Stop being so worried all the time, Niall. Seriously, I’m alright, I’m happy for you, I hope you the very best. I love you both, okay? You’re my best friends.”

Niall’s body relaxes and he takes a drag from the joint before passing it to Harry.

“Is Zayn…do you think he’ll ever come around?” Niall asks, looking at Harry with big eyes.

“Stop worrying about that now, alright?” Harry said, gaze turning serious. “It’ll work out somehow. I’m sure.”

Niall nods, pretends he doesn't hear how, despite his effort not to, _unsure_ Harry sounds.

He prays, he sincerely prays that everything will work out.

But he doubts it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Your thoughts on this chapter would mean so much! 
> 
> Message me on Kik @Miraal07 if you have any suggestions or if you just wants to chat. I dont bite :)
> 
> xxx


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi lovelies! <3
> 
> I managed to post a new chapter before a month pasted since the last! That's improvement right there, eh? Haha, I know it still took a long time, but I feel like I'm getting my writing mojo back so hopefully, the update won't be so few and far in between!
> 
> This chapter is beta'ed by the lovely Kira! All remaining mistake are mine and mine alone.
> 
> Hope you enjoy! x

Privilege C16

Niall wakes up with a mouthful of curls, body bent in odd ways and a headache throbbing along his temple.

He lets out a grunt and tries to roll into a more comfortable position and ends up ramming an elbow into the long, lanky body underneath him. 

“Owww,” Harry whines and Niall forces his sticky eyes open, blinking down at Harry, who is looking back up at him sleepily. Niall groans a bit when he realizes that he’d fallen asleep in Harry’s bed and his eyes immediately travel to the other end of the room where Louis is still fast asleep.

“Good morning to you too,” Harry mutters, turning his face and smashing it into the pillow.

“What time is it?” Niall asks, looking out into the bright day, trying to determine what time it is. “Aren’t we late for classes?” he asks, panicked and slaps a hand across Harry’s arm when the boy doesn’t reply. 

Harry grumbles something into the pillow that sounds suspiciously like ‘whatever’. Niall looks around for a phone or a clock or anything, he doesn’t want to add absence to his growing list of things that suck in his life. He scrambles out of bed, muttering a sorry when he accidently knocks into Harry again. He rakes his brain as he tries to remember where he put it last night

Louis and Harry’s room is disgustingly messy. Niall steps into a dirty shirt the minute his feet touch the floor and he wrinkles his nose, looking around at the room in search for his phone. He spies Harry’s on said boy’s desk and navigates through the mess, picking it up and checking the time.

He lets out a breath of relief. He still has plenty of time to make it. 

He glances at Louis and Harry who don’t look like they are waking up anytime this century. He gingerly makes his way to Louis bed and reaches over to shake him awake. He’s momentarily distracted by Louis’ open and vulnerable face, he looks so different sleeping than when he’s awake, Niall can’t help but think, but not any less beautiful.

Niall smiles and leans down, pressing a soft kiss to Louis’ slightly parted lips. He pulls away and chuckles quietly when Louis subconsciously chases after his lips. 

Louis cracks an eye open and sleepily blinks at Niall.

“Hey,” he says with a small smile and Niall grins. 

“Morning sunshine, if you don’t get up, we’ll be late.” Niall says and pokes Louis’ nose before turning on his heels to get back to his room and shower.

He’s abruptly halted by a hand around the crook of his elbow and he looks back at Louis with a raised brow.

Louis gets to his feet, shirtless and sleep-rumpled and looks at Niall with a lazy smile.

“Come, shower with me.”

Niall knows that if he gets into the shower with Louis, the possibility of them being late will increase at least double-fold. 

“I’ll just shower back at mine,” Niall smiles and turns to walk away. He doesn’t get far before Louis, who’s surprisingly fast considering he’s still half-asleep, gets up and stops him by hugging him from the behind.

“Shower with me,” he repeats, more demanding and kisses the back of Niall’s neck lazily. Niall blushes and shivers slightly. He’s puddle in Louis’ hand and Louis knows it, that bastard.

“Alright, but a quick one!”

He feels Louis’ lips form into a smirk against his skin.

“Sure.”

 

_###_

 

Niall had predicted this. He’d predicted that no shower with Louis would be anywhere near quick and his prediction comes to life when he finds himself up against the cold shower wall with a wet Louis pressed against his back.

“Louis,” Niall whines, panting hard.

“Mmm?” Louis hums as he strokes his tummy and then he pulls out, pushing back in with a particular hard thrust that knocks the breath out of Niall.

“Ah! This—oh God—we’re going to be late!” Niall manages to stutter out before he whimpers and scrambles against the wall for some form of purchase.

“We’ll be fine,” Louis says and continues in the same rhythm—quick and fast—a pace Niall is convinced will break him one of these days and he curls a hand around his mouth, the last he needs is for Harry to hear this; he’d never let him live it down.

Of course, Niall has quite the legacy with bad luck, so it’s just as he feels his orgasm grip his balls like a calloused hand that Harry decides to wake up.

“Oh my _GOD_!” He more or less screams from the other end of the door, pounding on it. “I can hear you! Open the door, I’m late! I just need to piss and maybe watch. Possibly join?”

Niall doesn’t know if it’s Harry’s actual words or just the fact that Harry can hear him, but it’s nonetheless embarrassing when that is what tips him over. He chokes on his breath and he shakes as his orgasm hits him with the force of a tidal wave. He bites down his hand as he trembles with it and Louis groans deeply into his ear.

“ _Fuck_ ,” Louis groans, his pace wavering, “Did you just come because of what he said?”

“What— _no_! no!” Niall denies vehemently. He can’t hear if Louis sounds offended or incredulous, really it’s hard concentrating when you have a dick up your ass. “You just—just finish already!”

Louis bites down Niall’s shoulder as he reaches his release, riding it out with sloppy thrusts and Niall trembles as he feels Louis fill him up.

“Jesus! I can hear everything, just for your information!” Harry shouts and he sounds suspiciously breathless.

“Shut up, Styles!” Niall yells, face burning red.

He knew this had been a bad idea

 

_###_

 

“For the 1000th time, we’re not going to have a fucking threesome!” Niall nearly yells it on their way to the cafeteria, though forces his voice into a heated whisper, considering they’re in full public and God knows how fast rumors travel at this Godforsaken place.

“You stole my sex-partner, is all I’m saying!” Harry pouts indignantly, and Niall hates him because he’s annoying but he still looks stupidly cute with his cat-printed beanie.

Niall rolls his eyes and looks toward Louis for help, exasperated. Louis doesn’t even seem bothered or to be listening for that matter, nose buried in his phone where he’s texting away furiously; Niall wonders who he’s texting with.

“Just, shut the fuck up,” Niall says and pinches Harry through his school sweater as a bunch of sophomore girls join them on the cobble-path leading to the cafeteria. They glance at them and immediately begin to gossip between each other in hushed tones.

Niall shifts uncomfortably. He feels rather self-conscious and he knows it’s only a matter of time before everyone finds out that he’d broken up the Golden Quartet of the school and they’d have even more of a reason to hate on him. 

He and Louis have come to a mutual agreement to keep their relationship hidden though they were both aware that with how angry Zayn was, he’ll doubtlessly tell whoever asks him just to spite them. 

That’s why Niall is jittery with nerves when they enter the cafeteria and per usual, they are the center of attention, hundreds of gossip-hungry slash adoring eyes turning their way; though it were mostly despiseful looks Niall got thrown his way.

Oh well.

“God! I’m hungry!” Harry exclaims, not even noticing all the girls and boys alike eyeing him, but that’s what happens when you’ve grown up with everyone drinking you up like you’re the purest of gold.

Louis taps Niall lightly on the hip, a small gesture that makes Niall look at him and Louis gives a look as if saying, “it’s gonna be alright.” Niall smiles and gives a small nod, following him to their table.

Niall immediately notices that neither Liam nor Zayn are sitting at their table and a quick scan of the cafeteria makes it clear that they have yet to arrive. Niall can barely place his order as he keeps throwing glances at the double doors, knee bouncing restlessly. That is, until Louis puts a firm, steadying hand on his knee and gives a squeeze.

“Calm down,” he says without taking his gaze from his phone and Niall studies him closely, wondering Louis’ calm façade is real or fake; this morning, is hard to tell.

Liam and Zayn eventually arrive, along with a few of their dorm mates, including Perrie and Danielle. Niall blatantly stares at them, wide-eyed and catches eyes with Zayn as he looks their way. Niall tries for a nervous smile though Zayn’s face is set in stone and Niall’s smile quickly falters. 

Louis looks up as well, having felt how tense Niall had become, and he meets Zayn’s gaze. Even though they’re so far apart, Niall can almost hear the tension crackling between them and he swallows hard.

Then, Zayn calmly walks to the other end of the room, sitting down at a table as far away from the Privilege table as he can get. Liam, Danielle, Perrie and a few of their dorm-mates follow him without looking toward the Privilege table. This time, Niall feels Louis tense up next to him.

Zayn’s actions has the cafeteria consumed in a tense silence as pretty much everyone stares wide-eyed at the scene, not quite believing what they’re seeing; did Privilege’s Prince just sit at another table? Niall can already feel the storm of gossip and rumors forming and he already feels sick to his stomach.

“Uhm—why are they sitting over there?” Amanda asks with a bewildered look and looks at Louis.

Louis’ jaw is clenched tightly shut as he glares toward Zayn and the rest of them, but he doesn’t say a word.

Harry, who’d been oblivious up to now looks up and once he realizes what’s got all riled up, his face drops a bit.

“Maybe they’re just a bit bored with sitting at the same spot for the last three years?” He says with a nervous laugh.

No one is buying that and all their other dorm mates at the table are staring at Louis, waiting for an explanation that never comes. Louis merely blows air out of his nose and grimaces, turning his attention on his breakfast.

For some reason, that seems to be the catalyst that throws the cafeteria in loud, incredulous chatter; the obvious fall-out between Privilege’s elite is obviously the biggest scandal of this new semester and Niall hopes he is imagining it when he hears people mutter his name behind his back.

“Oh God,” he says weakly and shields his face with a hand, hating the eyes burning into him. He glances at Zayn and the others and he can’t help but notice that almost every single one at that table hates his guts; it’s like they’ve formed a ‘Niall Hate Club.’’

Wow, his life just keeps on getting more and more depressing and the semester has barely begun.

 

_###_

 

It doesn’t take long before everyone knows or at least think they know what happened behind the walls of Privilege house and predictably, the whole fault is put on Niall. It doesn’t take terribly long before everyone is accusing him of breaking up the Elite Boys of Privilege and calling him foul names behind his back.

But really, Niall has come so used to it by this point that he’s barely fazed by it. The nasty looks and piercing words are hardly what has him so unfocused in class to the point where his teachers’ voice their concerns for him, no, he’s so caught up in his thoughts because he needs to find a way to make things right again. Things without Zayn and Liam feel incredibly wrong and even though Louis is pretending like he couldn’t care less, he has been a bit snappish and stand-offish ever since breakfast.

Niall has an English class with Zayn in his next period and he has been preparing himself to approach him all morning. He needs to have a real talk with Zayn, because despite everything, Zayn can’t seriously _hate_ him; especially considering that Niall still _loves_ him. He can’t get over him with the snap of a finger.

He’s nervous when he walks into the class and blocking out all the eyes turning on him and the gossip his arrival steers up; he zooms in on Zayn who’s sitting in the far back. He looks cute in his hipster-glasses, nose buried in an old copy of _Interview with the Vampire_.

Zayn notices the sudden shift in air around him and he slowly looks up, his eyes meeting Niall. Niall smiles and waves, but all he gets is curt look before Zayn returns to his book. Niall’s cheeks pink a little as he hears a couple of boys snicker at him, but he forces himself to ignore them and makes his way to the back of the class, sliding into the seat next to Zayn.

Zayn ignores him, though Niall notices the way he tenses up.

“Hi,” Niall says in a hushed voice, well aware that everything he says and does is put under a microscope. If he ever gets famous, then at least he’s had some kind of training and small-scale experience with it. 

 

Zayn doesn’t reply and stubbornly keeps his eyes on the worn pages of his novel.

“Are you really going to ignore me?” Niall asks, leaning a bit closer.

No answer. Niall briefly looks up and everyone who’d been watching and listening pretends they aren’t. Niall realizes that approaching Zayn in this public setting is a big mistake.

“Zayn?”

Zayn abruptly slams his books shut and turns to give Niall such a cold look, Niall nearly falls off the chair.

“I would appreciate, if you’d stop talking to me,” Zayn says and his icy tone pierces into Niall’s heart like an icicle. Niall’s face collapses, hurt and he looks down at the table, trying very hard not to give everyone the satisfaction of seeing him cry.

He can hear the others laughing behind his back and he curls into himself, stuffing his face in his English notes and barely makes it through the class.

 

_###_

 

“Hey,” Niall says, balancing a stack of books and papers in one hand and a tray containing a cinnamon latte and a caramel Frappuccino. Stacy looks up from the books she’d been buried in and gives him a wry smile.

“Oh, you made it,” she says, “Considering how infamous you’ve become over the last few hours, I didn’t think you’d have time for y’know, things that actually _matter_.”

Niall lets out a deep groan as he sits down across the table located at the back of library.

“Would you just give me a fucking break, Stacy?” he says, exhausted and exasperated, “People are already giving me shit without you adding to it. Jesus Christ.”

Stacy smirks and grabs the Caramel Frappuccino from the tray.

“Well, you have a tendency of bringing yourself in unfortunate positions, don’t you?” She says and sips on her drink, smacking her lips lightly.

“Thanks for pointing out the obvious,” he says sarcastically. He sifts through the paper in front of him and pushes them towards Stacy. “Despite my current stardom, I’ve managed to write three papers on the UN’s foreign policies.”

“Look at you, multi-tasking and everything,” Stacy says with a wry smile. She reaches for the papers with her perfectly manicured fingers and pulls them to her, looking over them with critical eyes. Niall nervously sips on his latte as he watches her; it’d be the last straw of the day if she tore it down.

“It looks well-organized and put together,” she says after a few minutes of skimming. She nods approvingly and Niall sags in relief. “I’ll copy them and pass them out later tonight. Be sure your ass is there,” she says and gives Niall a stern look.

Niall nods. He plans to ambush Zayn in the Art Cemetery before dinner, hopefully he can squeeze that in.

“I’ll be there,” he says.

Stacy just looks at him with a slightly skeptical look and Niall stares back.

“What?”

She shrugs. “I don’t know,” she says slowly, her dark gaze steady on him, “I just heard some rather interesting gossip.”

Niall wants to bang his head against the table, he barely has patience for this shit.

“And?” he prompts tiredly.

“There were a few girls from my dorm who were plotting your death because you’ve assumedly slept with _Louis_ ,” as per usual, she spits out the name like it was a bad taste in her mouth. She looks at Niall, clearly waiting for him to diffuse the rumor even though she probably knew the truth deep down.

“Plotting my death?” Niall repeats, voice high and face white.

She rolls her eyes. “Relax, they aren’t even capable of passing a minor test without the help of their parents’ bank accounts,” she says in disgust. “So, it’s really true?”

Niall shrugs and averts his gaze. Somehow, Stacy judgment feels heavier than the rest of the school put together.

“God, why was I even expecting more of you?” Stacy says and she sounds genuinely disappointed which just makes Niall shrink a little. “Well, I guess by the end of the day you’ll always be so far up Louis’ ass that you won’t ever realize that he is everything that is wrong with this school.”

Niall is prepared to defend Louis and tell Stacy off, but it quickly shows that he as to do neither when a smooth voice comes out of seemingly nowhere:

“Haven’t your parents taught you it’s rude to talk about people behind their backs, _Stacy_?”

Niall and Stacy are both badly startled and they wide-eyed turn their gaze on the new arrival. 

None other than Louis fucking Tomlinson. Why is anyone even surprised at this point? He’s standing there, looking undeniably handsome, with crossed arms and a smirk, clad in a cozy, knitted sweater and tight black jeans.

Niall is slowly becoming convinced that Louis is some kind of devil. 

He looks back at Stacy who looks beyond infuriated. “Haven’t your parents taught you not to sneak up on people and eavesdrop, huh Tomlinson?” She sneers, dark eyes flashing. “Oh wait, your parents were never home were they?”

“Original, Stacy, really original,” Louis says with a roll of his eyes and nonchalantly pulls out the chair next to Niall and slides into it. Ignoring Stacy’s heated glare, he turns to Niall and gives him a smile that turns him into mush.

“Hi,” he says, voice low and delicious. Niall hasn’t seen him since breakfast, so no one can blame him for the silly smile and pink cheeks.

“Hi,” he replies softly and he can feel Stacy including him under her wrath, but when Louis is looking at him with eyes so intense, smelling like paradise, nobody else really matters.

“We’re working. Get lost, Tomlinson,” Stacy spits.

Louis ignores her and leans into Niall, kissing him deeply on the lips; without doubt to spite Stacy and Niall wishes he didn’t melt into it. After a deep, throughout kiss that leaves Niall stupid and dazed, Louis pulls away and then turns on a rather repulsed Stacy with a satisfied smirk.

“Sorry, what did you say?” He asks, “Irrelevancy tends to sound like white noise in my ears.”

Stacy looks like she’s about to explode any moment, her face turning red but then at once, she pulls herself together and takes several deep breaths.

“Don’t you have some lives to ruin, Tomlinson?” She asks snidely, “Or have you already destroyed everything in your reach?”

Louis rests his cheek on his knuckles and looks at Stacy. “When are you getting over yourself, love?” he asks patronizingly, “this whole thing is getting boring and fast.”

“Shut up, you fucking asshole.” She splutters and gets riled up again. “You have the decency to speak like I’m overreacting after what you did!”

Louis lets out a deep, dramatic sigh. “I’m a bit tired of defending myself, but if you want to be stuck in the past then I’m certainly not stopping you. Do whatever you want…” he said lightly, though his gaze grew icy in a second, “…as long as you aren’t filling Niall’s head with your bitter shit.”

Niall shifts nervously. This was getting out of hand, really fast and this stupid fight is just what he needed to make his day complete.

“Ha!” Stacy outright laughs. “Me? Bitter?! _You_ are the one who is filling his head with lies and manipulates him at every fucking turn! I’ve known you for years Tomlinson and I know your game. I see through you, unfourtnately he doesn’t.” She gives Niall a hard look and Niall’s jaw clenches slightly.

Louis is about to retaliate but Niall slams a hand down on the table so hard that his latte nearly topples over.

“Stop,” he says tersely, “just fucking stop!”

Stacy and Louis stare at him with nearly matching offended looks as if they can’t believe Niall dared to silence them like that. Niall just glares from Stacy to Louis.

“I’ve already had a pretty shitty day, alright?” He says, voice trembling with anger, “I don’t need this shit! You BOTH need to get over yourselves!”

Stacy mouth falls open and Louis looks like he’s about to say something but Niall doesn’t give them a chance. “You’ve been best friends for so many fucking years and instead of talking through your issues you do everything in your power to hurt each other! What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“He’s the one that—“

“She’s just bitter—“

“No!” Niall shouts so loudly that he’s surprised their uptight librarian, Mrs. Gowan, hasn’t materialized next to him and shushed him. Stacy and Louis stare at him with flabbergasted expressions; these privileged fucks had probably never heard of the word no.

“Life is too short to be hung up on past issues. And people hurt each other, it happens, but they should also do everything they can to make it up to each other. Try for once not to act like rich, spoiled brats and sit down and have an actual conversation with each other and work out your shit!” Niall is breathing heavily once he’s done and he briskly gets to his feet and gathers his things. “I’m out of here.”

He storms off, satisfied with the speechless expressions on Stacy and Louis’ faces.

 

_###_

 

Walking through the doors leading into the Art Cemetery feels like walking on forbidden ground. Niall hasn’t been here since he caught Chanel and Zayn is a compromising positon and as he had feared, everything feels less intimate, less inviting as he steps over the threshold and looks around the familiar settings.

A small nostalgic smile stretches across his lips when he sees the small, wonky wood table overflowing with papers, half-eaten pastries and empty coffee cups. Zayn isn’t here, but Niall knows that he’ll be here any minute. He walks further inside and shivers a bit in his thin sweater; it’s ten degrees colder than the outside.

Niall’s eyes automatically searches for the portrait of him, heart sinking upon realizing that Zayn had thrown a piece of old, tattered cloth over it as if he couldn’t bear to look at it. Niall walks over and tentatively tugs the cloth down and looks up at his own face.

The first time he saw it feels ages ago, but yet so close. He sighs softly as he comes to terms with the fact that he misses Zayn terribly, over the last several months, Zayn had grown a spot in his heart and now that he was suddenly gone, Niall can’t help but feel empty.

He stands there in front of the beautiful portrait that reflects the way Zayn used to see him and gets a bit lost in his thoughts. Zayn’s words from yesterday replay in his mind, the hurt and anger in his eyes, the wrath and accusations in his tone. Zayn had sounded so sure that Louis had been the one behind the whole incident and the worst part of it all is that Niall doesn’t know what to believe.

He knows that if it turned out to be the truth, if Louis really had drugged Zayn, it would absolutely destroy him. A part of him is already bracing itself for the cold, hard fall that seems to be so inevitable, while another part of Niall is still clinging to the possibility that this had all been Chanel’s doing.

“What are you doing here?”

Niall jumps startled and spins around, wide-eyed.

Zayn is standing in the door and staring at him. He has changed out of his uniform and is wearing a warm sweater with traces of blue paint on it along with a pair of chinos, his laptop bag strapped across his chest, holding a bag of something or another.

Niall swallows but forces himself to meet Zayn’s gaze. “Hi,” he says, “I’m here to talk.”

Zayn’s lips pulls into a thin line and he walks further into the room. “I don’t have time for this,” he says in a tense voice as he carefully places the bag on the ground before pulling off the bag and reaching into it, extracting his sleek Macbook Pro.

Niall watches him for a moment as he puts the computer on the table starting it up.

“Well, I’m not leaving,” he says, proud of how firm his voice sounds.

Zayn lifts his gaze briefly to give him an annoyed look. “I have a big art project I need to be finished with before this Thursday, would you please leave me alone?”

“It’ll take ten minutes,” Niall insists and quickly adds, “Please.”

Zayn lets out an irritated sigh and pushes a hand through his dark hair, messing it up.

“What?” He asks tersely. “I told you, I have nothing more to say to you.”

“Would you please calm down for a bit?” Niall says carefully, “It’s still me, Zayn.”

Zayn stares at him. “Still you?” he scoffs, “I barely know who you are anymore.”

Niall winces, hurt.

“I’m sorry,” he says sincerely, eyes big, “You have every right to be angry with me Zayn but you can’t just hate me forever or Louis.”

“Yeah?” Zayn says, nose flaring.

“He didn’t do it, Zayn,” Niall says and sounds unsure even to his own ears.

“Yes he did!” Zayn hisses and he’s quickly getting upset. This wasn’t why Niall had come, to have a fight with Zayn.

“Where’s the proof?” He asks softly.

Zayn looks like he wants to slap him and Niall actually backs away when he walks toward him. 

“The only fucking proof you need is to know that this is Louis we’re talking about,” Zayn says heatedly. “He’s…He’s _Louis_ for God’s sake, how can’t you be this blind?”

“He wouldn’t do that to you…to me..” Niall says quietly and looks down from Zayn’s heated gaze.

Zayn lets out a loud scoff. “Do you actually think he gives a rat’s ass about you?” Zayn says, “He’s been messing with you from day one, Niall. Already forgotten about that shitty prank he pulled on you—“

“That was all of you!” Niall interrupts, fists clenching.

“Who do you think came up with it?”

“So fucking what, you still all went along with it which doesn’t make you any better!” Niall takes a deep breath and pushes a hand through his hair with a deep sigh. “Look, he has his faults, so do you, so do I, so does every other person in this world. I know where you’re coming from and I thought he had done it as well, but now, I’m not so sure.”

“Not so sure, huh?” Zayn scoffs and shakes his head. “You know what? I’m not doing this with you anymore. Get out and don’t come back.”

“You can’t cut me out of your life!” Niall says frustrated, taking a step forward. “After everything we’ve been through toget—“

“After everything we’ve been through you went and fucked my supposedly best friend!” Zayn snarls into his face. “How can you do something as shitty as that!? What _happened_ to you?”

“Nothing happened to me, I—“ Niall begins to defend himself but Zayn interrupts again.

“No,” Zayn says and looks almost sad. “You were different, you were _special_ , but now you’re just like everyone else here—you’re just like _him_. You’re no longer the boy I fell in love with.”

Those words hurt Niall more than anything he’d heard all day and it’s like his heart physically folds in on itself. He lets out a small choked breath and this time, he can’t stop the tears from glazing his eyes over. Zayn looks back at him with a pained expression and he steps forward, softly cupping his cheek.

“He ruined you,” he whispers. 

Niall grabs Zayn’s wrist and pulls his hand off of him. He stares at Zayn with teary eyes, not allowing the tears to follow and says in a slightly shaky tone;

“Maybe it’s just you who put me up on a pedestal and expected me to be this unique snowflake,” he says, “so when I wasn’t as perfect as you wanted me to be, when you saw that I had cracks and faults just like everyone else, you were shocked.” Niall sniffs and stubbornly keeps the tears from spilling over. “Louis might be a shitty person, he might be a liar, he might manipulate and hurt people, but at least…at least he sees me for who I am and not some perfect image. At least he knows I’m just as messed up as everyone else and y’know what? He accepts me with it, with all my flaws and insecurities. That’s where you failed, Zayn. I’m sorry I couldn’t live up to your expectations.”

With that, Niall turns on his heels and storms off, tears blurring his vision.

Outside, it has begun raining but Niall isn’t going to wait around for it to stop, he plunges right into it, shivering violently as it hits his body and drenches his within seconds. He clenches his teeth, crosses his arms and bows his head, speed-walking through the empty campus except the few other kids who also got caught in the rain.

He’s walking down the path in front of the teacher’s building when there’s footsteps behind him and before Niall can turn around, there’s a shield above his head and looking up, he sees Louis with an umbrella. They stand there for a moment, under the shade of the umbrella, staring at each other. Niall can see Louis stare at his red-rimmed eyes and his running nose and he looks down, self-conscious.

“What happened?” Louis asks quietly but it still in that demanding way of his.

“Nothing,” Niall sniffs and rubs at his stinging eye, doubtlessly making them the more bloodshot.

Louis is quiet for a moment and Niall is sure he’s going to force it out of him per usual but instead Louis curls a hand around his hip and pulls him close---apparently not minding that he as a result was getting wet too—and kisses his temple.

“A warm bath and a cup of hot chocolate, how does that sound?” He asks and Niall falls into him, heart melting.

“Sounds perfect,” he whispers, he tilts his face up and kisses Louis tenderly.

Louis smiles at him and gives his hip a squeeze.

“Come on, Princess.”

Niall manages a small laugh and lets Louis lead him back to the dorm.

 

_###_

 

The same night, Niall finds himself breaking and entering the teacher’s building—or not really considering that he doesn’t break in but just slips through that open basement window and sneaks in that way. 

It’s about one million times more nerve-wracking than when he last did this, mainly because he’s alone and doesn’t have Louis’ confidence to calm him, also because his wet sneakers are squeaking against the floor in a way that sounds too loud in his ears.

His heart is pounding, his hands are clammy and he feels like throwing up, but he pushes forward, not allowing himself to think of the consequence if he’s caught. 

He’s on a mission.

He slinks through the deadly quiet, dark hallways and jumps at every little sound that’s more likely to be in his head than actual reality. He finds his way until he’s standing in front of the desired destination---Mr. Pitt’s, the guidance’s office.

He grabs the handle with a hand that shakes like Jell-O-mold under an earth-quake—and he’s even gone as far as wearing gloves, you can never be too careful—and he shouldn’t be so surprised when the door opens, effortlessly and soundlessly. He’d thought that maybe this school would use a little money on locks after everything that had happened, God knows Niall would be the first one to be thankful.

He looks into the semi-dark office, the lamppost from outside seeping in through the window casting long and eerie shadows. He swallows heavily and steps into the room, shaking slightly. He feels like he actually might throw up in Mr. Pitt’s trash can—would be a lovely surprise. 

He forces himself to continue until he’s standing behind the desk and looking at the computer sitting on the desk. He lets out a deep breath and reaches for the mouse, moving it and is severely disappointed that it isn’t on standby. It will takes ages to turn it on, but he’s already come this far. Shooting a fugitive glance toward the door, he pushes the buttons.

The computer sounds like a fucking bulldozer wrecking through houses as it wires to life and Niall is just waiting for someone to come and catch him red-handed. He is positively sweating by the time the blue screen asking for a password appears. 

“Ok,” he says, so far so good, he takes another deep breath and types in that universal password that Louis had told him—and even then, only because he’d been high on weed back at NYC. 

He presses enter and waits with baited breath. After 100 years, the computer finally shows him the desired word _”welcome!”_. He lets out a relieved chuckle which just scares him as it sounds too loud in the quiet room. He shakes his head and gingerly sits down at the chair.

After nearly 15 nerve-wracking minutes, Niall finally finds what he’s looking for:

Chanel’s email address and even better, her number.

“Jackpot,” Niall says under his breath as he quickly pulls out his phone and types the information in.

Behind him, the distant sound of the wind howling startles him and he makes a quick work on the computer before he bolts out. Once he’s out in the slightly cold night, he feels rather triumphant and can’t help but pump his fist in the air with a little grin, subconsciously hoping that no insomniac kid is watching him through their window and wondering if he’s finally lost it.

He quickly makes his way through the deserted campus, the promise of his warm bed and a plan in his head comforting that is until he hears footsteps behind him. Niall’s heart jumps to his throat and he spins around, wide-eyed and fearful but there’s absolutely no one. His gaze darts around the large, open campus and it suddenly becomes obvious how someone could easily hurt him without anyone hearing his cries of help. Swallowing heavily, he turns around and walks in long, fast steps, nearly half-running.

He hears the sound again and lets out a small, scared whimper, glancing over his shoulder. He catches sight of a small squirrel, gnawing curiously at someone before disappearing up in a tree. Niall turns back and walks faster, heart pounding.

_Ba-dum, Ba-dum._

There’s a rustle in the bushes, Niall sees something in his peripheral vision and instead of bolting, he simply freezes up, standing there small and terrified, eyes trained on the bush that had rustled.

The only thing louder than the eerie silence is the blood rushing in his ear.

“Who’s there?” His voice sounds annoyingly high and scared. 

Silence.

If his stalker has come to the decision of murdering him, there would be no better way than right now and Niall can’t believe that he’d thought this would been a good idea; he should have taken Harry with him. 

He knows there’s someone watching him from the shadows and the thought has him nearly peeing in his pants. It’s when he’s decided that the worst thing he can do is stand there like an easy target when he sees a long, dark figure standing behind a tree no farther than a few feet away. It’s only for a moment and only a glimpse, but it’s enough for Niall to turn on his heels and bolt.

Niall doesn’t think he’d run or will ever run as fast as he did that one, terrifying moment. He more or less flies through campus, heart beating, and blood rushing and panting hard. He reaches Privilege House and he is nearly sobbing as he scrambles to hold his trembling hands steady so he can slide the card through the key-slot. He finally succeeds and tears the door open and takes the stairs all the way up to his floor, doesn’t stop running until he reaches his room. 

He slams the door closed behind him and collapses against it, panting, teary and spooked so badly, he is sure he’s going to need professional help or he’ll go insane. 

“What is happening!?” Conrad shouts, bolting upright in his bed and startling Niall so badly that the blond lets out a helpless sob, hiding his face in his hands.

There’s a moment of complete silence where Conrad stares at the boy curled on the floor by the door, trembling like a leaf.

“Niall?”

Niall doesn’t reply, just fights to keep a grip on his fragile sanity.

“Hey, man, are you alright?” Conrad gets out of the bed and tentatively makes his way over, staring at Niall like he’s a scared animal or an escaped insane asylum patient.

“Niall?”

“I’m fine, I’m fine, I’m fine,” Niall rants rubbing a hand over his face in an attempt to get himself under check but he can feel himself teetering on the edge of a mental break-down.

“You sure? You look like you’re about to pass out,” Conrad says, concerned.

Just then, the sound if an incoming text message is heard.

Niall swallows hard and he stares at Conrad who stares back at him with a worried frown. Niall counts to ten and then he pulls his phone out of his pocket. It’s like his poor heart stops beating upon opening the message;

**“Did you know breaking into the teachers’ building is punishable by expulsion? The more you know…”**

And with that message is attached a picture of Niall bend over Mr. Pitt’s computer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Your thoughts and comments are always a great motivator. :)
> 
> Love ya xoxo


	17. 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah! Look at that, I have a chapter up already! And it took me less than a week. Don't I need a round of applause? Jk.
> 
> Chapter was beta'ed by the lovely Kira, thank you my dear. Any remaining errors belongs to me.
> 
> Enjoy lovelies!

Privilege Chapter 17

Niall doesn’t close an eye that night, or he does for something that feels no longer than 5 minutes before he wakes up in cold sweat, gasping. He spends the entirety of the night staring at the ceiling and listening to Conrad’s obnoxious snoring.

He can’t sleep for obvious reasons, one; he’d nearly been killed, two; he was as screwed as he could get, just when he thought that he couldn’t get more screwed than he already was.

His stalker has an incriminating photo of him, a photo that could easily sends his ass back on a bus to his depressing little town faster than he could say _“aw fuck.”_

Niall doesn’t know what to do, doesn’t know if there’s even any solution to this. A part of him wants to go and get Louis’ help—Louis always knows what to do—but he doesn’t want Louis to know what a big fucking retard he is. 

Before he’d gone on his ‘genius’ mission, he should’ve considered the fact that he has a stalker with a creepy preference of taking photos of him. The fact that the stalker had been so close to him in that building, so easily could have hurt him is enough to make Niall want to pack up by his own free will. Is Prescott really worth all of this mind-chewing insanity?

As soon as he thinks that thought, a line of images stream through his tired mind, despite all the bad, he’d also had a lot of _good_ memories, small and big. As insane as it is, he actually thinks that by the end of the day, anything would be worth creating more memories in Prescott with the people he loves.

His thoughts goes in circles as he fruitlessly tries to figure out who he’s stalker is and the sad reality is that it could be pretty much anyone, considering that the people who didn’t harbor hate towards him was a small handful of people. The only thing Niall can wish for is that it isn’t someone he knows closely—like Danielle or Perrie—that would completely crush him.

At some point when he gets tired of lying there like a statue, he gets up and sits down by his desk, starting up his computer. He gets on his email and begins typing, then stops. How is he supposed to formulate this? 

 

_Hi Chanel  
This is Niall. I am contacting you regarding what you told me before your disappearance. What did you mean by ‘everyone is lying to you’? Please, I’d appreciate it if you replied._

_Niall_

Niall stares at it for a second then snorts loudly and deletes it. It had sounded too formal, like he was writing an email to a teacher something. He sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose.

 

_“Hi Chanel_

_This is Niall. I want to know what you meant with what you told me before you disappeared? And why did you leave so suddenly?_

_Niall_

 

He gnaws at his bottom lip before saving the email. He isn’t going to send it before trying her phone, which he will as soon as the dawn breaks. He lets out a small sigh and glances at Conrad’s sleeping form, envious.

He slowly glances at the clock on his night-stand letting out a small groan at the bright red letter showing it’s three in the freaking morning. He needs to sleep if he has any hope of making it through tomorrow and he would have sneaked into Louis’ bed, but he’s simply too terrified to walk out of his room. The logical side of him of course knows that if the stalker is inside Privilege House, then he’d have no problems getting into Niall’s room and murdering him. 

Niall shudders as he remembers the stalker following him and he quickly crawls back under the covers, feeling some sense of safety there.

He falls asleep eventually, but it’s a small, restless sleep where he’s being chased by the stalker and he wakes up too early to get out of bed, but too late to try to get some decent sleep. With a deep, tired sigh, he drags himself to the bathroom to get himself ready for another tiring day of hateful glares and malicious whispers.

_###_

“You look like you’ve been dragged through hell and back.”

“Good morning to you too, Harry,” Niall grumbles when he later is on his way to breakfast with Harry and Louis. He looks like a pile of poop next to them, all well-rested and fresh-faced and gorgeous. 

Harry grins a bit, “Didn’t sleep well?

“Something like that,” Niall mutters and pulls his thin jacket closer around himself; one wouldn’t think it’s spring with how chilly it is, it’s like they’ve been thrown right back into fall. Even the weather is playing games with him.

Niall can feel Louis’ intense gaze on him, studying him. He’s been avoiding direct eye-contact with him and he plans on doing that for as long as he can drag it out. He knows it’s only a matter of time before Louis finds out what he’d been up to last night, if there’s anything that has been knocked into his head since he came to Prescott is that Louis knows everything.

Niall would’ve told him, himself, but he knows that from the second Louis finds out that he’d been risking his school and life to obtain Chanel’s contacts, is the second problems between them will arise. Louis will doubtlessly be furious that Niall doesn’t trust his words.

That’s something Niall isn’t looking forward to. The pile of shitty problems keeps compiling and Niall is compelled to just give up completely and drown in it.

This morning’s breakfast is not much different from yesterday, Zayn and Liam and a handful of their dorm mates doesn’t sit at their Privilege table, more gossip, more rumors; just the same old shit.

Niall keeps secretly checking his phone, anxious for a reply from Chanel. Louis keeps watching him silently and it’s just making Niall more restless and anxious than he already is. He barely gets any food down, just fills his stomach with caffeine and before Louis gets the chance to pull him to the side, he excuses himself from the table and storms to his next class.

 

_###_

 

Usually, Niall always has a pen and a notebook ready in class; absorbing everything and making sure to write down useful and precise notes. This morning, however, he doesn’t even bother taking out his books, just collapses in the back of the class and tries to get away with sleeping with his eyes open.

That nearly lands him in detention on top of everything else when his Math teachers, Mrs. Hills, catches him dozing off in her class; she’s usually strict and the only reason she let this one pass by is because it’s Niall and he’s usually so active in her class. Niall also suspects she saw how shitty and sleep-deprived he looked and pitied him.

He’s a bit concerned that his lack of sleep isn’t the only thing pushing his academics down the line of his priority list; a part of him simply can’t take school seriously with the threat of being thrown out any minute hanging over his head. If he wasn’t too exhausted to, he’d been sitting terrified, waiting to be pulled out of class and to the principle office.

Nothing happens and lunch rolls around. He heads directly for the coffee shop and loads up on caffeine and pastries. He looks around for his friends but apparently everyone has yet to arrive, so he takes a seat by himself, ignoring the swarm of eyes following his every move.

He’s barely sat there for a few minutes before he’s joined by Stacy.

“You look like a wreck,” Stacy comments.

“Thank you, Stacy,” Niall replies with a sarcastic smile. “You look on point as always.”

She actually does, even though a little less cleavage would’ve been better, but whatever works for her.

She smirks, “I know,” she says smugly and Niall rolls his eyes, taking such a huge gulp of his hot drink that he burns his tongue.

“Ouch!” He exclaims, followed by a puppy whimper as he sticks his tongue out and fans it with his hand as if it would help. 

“Tough night?” Stacy asks. She swings her thick ponytail over her shoulder and takes a sip of her drink.

“Something like that,” Niall mutters and takes a bite of his donut. 

“Yeah, sneaking into Hull Hall can be tough,” Stacy says nonchalantly.

It take around 5 seconds for Niall’s muddled brain to comprehend what she said. Once it does, his wide gaze snaps up, the half-eaten piece of donut rolling out of his mouth and landing on the table. Stacy wrinkles her nose, disgusted.

“Please, close your mouth.”

Niall’s mouth is dry, his heart is beating hard.

“Oh my God,” he chokes out, tensing up. 

Stacy lifts a perfectly shaped brow at him, and Niall swallows thickly, fingers curling around the edge of the table, desperate for something to ground him.

“It was you,” he whispers, shocked.

Stacy stares at him. “What was me?” She asks slowly, eyes narrowed.

Something sets off inside of Niall. How dare she plays stupid when she’d nearly scared Niall to fucking death? When she’s played with his head like it was nothing more than a lacrosse ball? How fucking _dare_ she?

“You’re the one who’s been stalking me!” He accuses, breathing hard, “You’re the one who’d been following me last night!? The one who’d taken all those creepy photos! You—“

“What!?” Stacy interrupts him, her shoulders curling a bit, “This shit again? I’m not and have _never_ been your stalker, Niall Horan! What the fuck are you even on about!?”

“Don’t lie!” Niall shouts so loudly that he pretty much gains the attention of the whole room. “Don’t lie,” he repeats, shaking. “What is this, Stacy? Some sick game? What have I ever done to you?!”

Stacy grips the edge of the table and glares at him. “I’m not lying, I don’t lie,” she says, “calm the fuck down and stop throwing around accu-“

“Then how did you know about last night?” Niall asks, voice dropping into a hushed tone. He can feel everyone’s eyes on him, and he doesn’t need them to know this.

“My friend saw you, ok!?” She snaps, irritated, “She’s got insomnia, so she doesn’t sleep well. Spends most her night on the windowsill, listening to music. _That’s_ how I know!”

Niall stares into Stacy’s eyes, searching for the slightest trace of lie, but all he finds is honesty; angry honesty, but honesty nonetheless. He collapses in his chair, hiding his face behind a shaking hand, feeling wrung dry of every bit of last energy he might have had left. 

He can feel Stacy’s eyes heavy on him. “Sorry,” he mutters weakly and removes his hand from his face, casting his gaze down.

“What the fuck is going on?” Stacy asks, leaning closer, “Are you…are you being stalked again?”

_again_. That’s a word that makes Niall want to crumble into uncontrollable tears. He’s barely 17 and he’s already been stalked twice in his short life. What did he ever do to deserve this?

“Wow,” Stacy says quietly, incredulously, “That’s really…I actually feel really fucking bad for you. And someone is taking pictures of you again?”

“Yeah,” Niall mutters, seeing no point in hiding what is already painfully obvious. 

“But, why were you in the teachers’ building in the middle of the night?” Stacy asks.

Niall shifts. That’s one thing he isn’t going to tell anyone, especially not Stacy. Stacy seems to want to continue prodding, but thankfully—or not so thankfully, maybe—they’re joined by Louis and Harry.

“Well, don’t you two look cozy,” Louis drawls and slips into the seat next to Niall. Harry slides into the seat next to Stacy and shamelessly checks out her cleavage.

“Hi,” he says, all dimples and charm that would have any girl blushing, but Stacy gives him one, short look.

“Don’t even try, Styles,” she says with a scoff, but she doesn’t get up to leave which surprises Niall. He watches Stacy and Louis exchange a curt, measured look that, shockingly, doesn’t bear any trace of malice or venom. 

“Try what?” Harry says with an endearingly innocent look, “I’m just saying hi.” His words might have had more credibility if his eyes didn’t betray him as they slide back over Stacy’s chest; that kid has no boundaries at all.

“What is it, Stacy?” Louis speaks up and shoots the girl a smirk, “There were once you found our Harry cute if I recall correctly.”

Stacy snorts. “Cute, yes,” she looks Harry up and down, “But that’s about it.”

Niall’s eyes are wide as they flicker between Louis and Stacy; did they just exchange words that didn’t contain mockery or an insult? Or is Niall really so exhausted that he’s imagining things? He never got to talk to Louis about Stacy, whether he talked out his problems with her and the possibility that he did, makes Niall giddy.

“I can be sexy as well,” Harry says in that slow, husky drawl of his as he leans closer to Stacy. And Niall isn’t even going to deny it, if there’s someone who’s a perfect combination of hella adorable and sinfully sexy, then it’s Harry Styles; he’ll make you want to make him cookies, cuddle and make him giggle one second and the next you’d want him to fuck your brains out. Niall blushes a bit and takes a sip of his drink.

“Not going to happen,” Stacy says to Harry, completely unfazed. 

“What were you talking about?” Louis asks nonchalantly, looking from Stacy to Niall, “It looked pretty intense.”

Stacy just looks at Niall, clearly not wanting to be the one to tell. Niall shifts.

“Just the Debate at Westfield next week,” he says with a shrug and stares at Stacy, urging her to hop on. She looks at him for a second, before nodding along.

“Yeah,” she says, “there’s a lot of preparations and stress involved.”

Niall doesn’t meet Louis’ gaze and he should know by now that Louis sees directly through his lies.

“How sweet,” Louis says after a moment of silence, “You’re keeping secrets for each other.”

When Niall looks up, Louis is staring at him with a look that leaves no doubt that he knows Niall is lying him right up in the face and he doesn’t look particularly happy with that. Niall swallows and quickly looks down.

“Secrets?” Harry repeats around a mouthful of croissant, as oblivious to the tension at the table as ever.

“Oh, hell no, I’m not getting dragged into your drama,” Stacy says with a brisk shake of her head and gets to her feet. She shoots Niall a small look before walking away, her heels clicking loudly against the floor. Harry grabs his coffee, “Wait for me!” he calls and trails after her like a puppy.

Niall swallows thickly.

“Oh, look at that, the lunch is almost over,” Niall says nervously pointedly avoiding Louis’ gaze and quickly gathers his things, nearly running away. He can feel Louis’ eyes burn into him the whole way, but he’s not stopped, though he knows it’s only a matter of time before Louis will corner him and force him to spit it all out.

 

_###_

The inevitable eventually happens.

Niall has a free period and he’s hiding in one of the empty class room where he tries to reach Chanel through her phone but it quickly proves futile when all he gets is a robotic voice that informs him the number is no longer in service.

He groans and uses around 10 minutes obsessively refreshing his mail inbox when the door into the classroom is pushed upon; Niall’s heart skips a beat as the paranoid part of him—which by this point is 98%— thinks it’s his stalker, but it’s Louis, which really is the next worst thing.

“Hi,” Niall says, mouth a bit dry as he slides his phone back into his pocket, “What—how did you find me?”

Louis’ gaze scans the room for a second before it lands at Niall, he looks at him momentarily before closing the door behind him. Niall gulps as Louis begins advancing on him.

“How do I know?” He asks lightly and there’s no telling what kind of mood he’s in. Niall automatically backs away until a desk hinders his path. “You can run, my dear, but you can’t hide from me,” Louis says with a smirk and comes close, putting his hands on the desk on either side of Niall, trapping him.

It’s hard to breathe really, with Louis standing so close to him, so close that Niall can’t find a single flaw on his smooth, porcelain skin.

“Who says I was hiding?” Niall says even though his eyes skittishly looks over Louis’ shoulder as he rakes his brain for something, anything, to get him out of this.

“Yes, you were,” Louis says steadily, then he grabs Niall’s chin between his deft fingers and tilts his face to his, studying him. “Now, can you tell me why you were sneaking around in Hull Hall last night?”

Even though he’d known that Louis would know, he still isn’t prepared. His eyes immediately flees from Louis’ piercing ones and he mutters out unconvincingly, “What are you even talking about?”

“Niall,” Louis says impatiently, “Let’s not play this game where I pretend I don’t know exactly what you were doing.”

Niall’s eyes snaps up to Louis’ eyes, they are narrowed and hard, and Niall feels a tug of dread inside of him.

“What do you think I was doing there?” Niall asks dreadfully.

“Oh…I don’t know, maybe,” Louis’ face falls into a mock thoughtful expression, before he looks directly into Niall’s eyes, “…maybe you were there to get Chanel’s contacts?”

At Niall’s expression he scoffs, “Don’t look so surprised, you’re an open book to me.”

Niall swallows, “I need to know, Louis, I need to—“

“I told you everything you need to know!” Louis snaps at him, eyes clouding over, “But you won’t believe me, will you? You’ll believe her words over mine, do I even have to tell you how screwed up that is!?”

“Don’t fucking snap at me!” Niall says and pushes Louis out of his space, “If she really did it then I don’t think you have anything to worry about, right? You’ve got nothing to hide, isn’t that right, Louis!?”

Louis is starting to get a gradually increasing pissed off look on his features, “You litte…” He stops himself from whatever he was going to say, “So what happens, Niall? She can easily put all the blame on me, and what happens when she does that? Will you believe her?”

Niall hasn’t allowed himself to think that far and he looks away from Louis’ storming eyes. The truth of the matter is if Chanel actually ends up telling that it was all Louis’ doing, then Niall doesn’t know what he’s going to do. If she doesn’t have any proof, then it’ll be her words against Louis’ and it saddens Niall indefinitely that he can’t trust Louis’ words; he’s a compulsive liar, that’s a fact Niall can’t ignore

“I just want to know what happened,” Niall says quietly with a shrug.

“What happened is that Zayn got drugged, end of fucking story, what will even change—“

“It’ll change everything!” Niall interrupts, glaring at Louis, “It changes everything and you fucking know it.”

Louis falls silent for a moment, just staring at Niall.

“We’re going to have a real problem if you’re going to take some chick’s words over mine,” Louis says tersely.

Niall shakes his head and looks away without a word.

“Jesus Christ,” Louis snarls and stalks up to Niall, grabbing him and forcing him to look at him. “I already admitted that I might have encouraged her—“

“Encouraged as in blackmailed her?” Niall interrupts, steadily meeting Louis’ gaze.

Louis’ nose flares and he looks like he wants to smack the shit out of Niall. He doesn’t reply though, instead his hand slides into Niall’s pocket and fishes his phone out. Niall is so taken aback by the action that he just watches Louis punch in the pin—wait, how the fuck does he knows his pin!?—clicking through the phone.

“Hey! What the fuck are you doing!?” Niall exclaims once he gets over the surprise and he reaches for his phone but Louis moves out of his reach, eyes narrowed in concentration.

“Louis! Give me my fucking phone!” Niall tries once against to retrieve his phone from Louis grasp but stops up upon seeing the clear shock on Louis’ face as he stares at the screen and Niall doesn’t have to think long to figure out what he’s fallen upon.

“What the fuck,” Louis breathes and lifts his gaze to Niall. Niall snaps the phone out of Louis’ hand and looks down at the screen, swallowing hard when his suspicions are confirmed; Louis had opened the message with the attached photo.

“Niall! What the fuck is that?” Louis hisses.

“Nothing,” Niall mutters, his gaze going anywhere but Louis’ face as he pockets his phone again, shoulders slumped.

“Nothing!?” Louis moves back into Niall’s space, “Do you have any fucking idea what that picture means!?”

“Of course I do!” Niall snaps, waving spastically with his hands, “It means that my life is fucking _over_ , _that’s_ what it means! And yes, I’m an idiot! Yes, I fucked up!”

Louis lets out a deep sigh, face-palming briefly, running a hand through his hair. His face looks thoughtful for a moment, eyes dark. Then he holds out a hand, palm facing upwards and Niall stares at him.

“What?”

“Your phone,” Louis says with a roll of his eyes like Niall is a little dumb. Niall hesitates for a moment, but hands over the phone in the end. He watches Louis click through it before he begins typing out a text.

“What are you doing?” Niall asks as he draws behind Louis and looks over his shoulder, curious and wary all at once.

“This has gone on for long enough,” Louis says darkly, his fingers swiping over the screen effectively. “It’s time to catch your little stalker.”

_What do you want?_ is what Louis types out and sends before Niall can stop him. Niall looks at him, bewildered.

“How is that going to solve anything?” Niall asks skeptically.

“Just leave it to me,” Louis says and pockets Niall’s phone. Niall opens his mouth to protest but Louis pulls him close and ruffles his hair.

“You’re a fucking idiot, Niall,” he says with a huff, “If you want to survive, then stop trying to hide shit from me.”

Niall opens his mouth, mostly to say something like “I’m not an idiot’’ and ‘’you hide shit too’’ but Louis puts a finger against his mouth and shushes him.

“Wanna skip last class?”

“What? No, I—“

“Thought so, come on.” 

Niall groans and lets Louis drag him along, though he’s one hundred percent certain that he isn’t going to let Louis convince him to miss a class; even though Louis has managed to convince him to do so many things he wouldn’t have done otherwise.

 

### 

“Harry, you’ve got to get your shit together or you won’t pass into senior year,” Niall says later that same day when he’s on Harry’s bed and staring at his latest tests, all of them which have horrible grades stamped on them. 

Harry seemingly unperturbed that he is failing his classes, is curled by the headboard with his iPad and Panda in his lap, giggling over YouTube videos of cats while stroking Panda’s fur. 

“ _Harry_!” Niall snaps and Harry looks up with a smile.

“Mmm?” 

Niall groans and waves the evidence of his crippling academics in his face, “You’re _failing_ , do you understand that? You won’t pass the end of year exams if you don’t do something about this.”

Harry rolled his eyes. “You sound like my teacher,” he says, “I’ll pass, dontcha worry.”

“ _How_?” Niall asks, because the only thing that can save Harry’s grades at this point is a fucking miracle, and Niall doesn’t understand why he’s the only one stressing over this.

Harry grins devilishly and leans into Niall as if he’s about to share a big secret. “I have my connections,” he says with a serious face that lasts for about three seconds before he’s outright laughing. Niall shoves at his shoulder and rolls his eyes.

“Whatever, you idiot.”

“No, I’m serious. I’m an international pop star and I get pretty much everything I want,” Harry says with a smirk, “I’ll pass that stupid exam, you’ll see.”

Niall eyes Harry, all kind of envious, because he had no doubt that Harry really did have connection and he’d pass the exam without putting in 10% of the effort Niall would. The worst part of it is that Harry doesn’t want it nearly as much as Niall wants it.

“Stupid, rich kids,” Niall grumbles.

“You love me!” Harry yells so loudly that he scares Panda and she scrambles off his lap. Harry kisses her nose apologetically before pouncing on Niall.

“Get off!” Niall shouts and feebly fights against Harry.

“Say you love me!” Harry crows, digging his fingers into Niall’s side and tickling him mercilessly.

“I love you!” Niall gives in immediately, laughing loudly. He topples Harry off of him and straddles him, pulling harshly at his curls.

“What would you do without your money, Styles?” He asks, “What would you do if you were forced to go to public school?”

Harry gasps mortified, “Don’t even joke about that!”

Niall rolls his eyes.

“If you had to buy on sale?”

“Nooo!” Harry moans like it’s the most despicable thing ever. He presses his palm against his ear, “I can’t bear to hear more! Save the nightmare stories for bedtime!” 

“Oh, shut it,” Niall says and smacks Harry lightly on the cheek, “You’d be lost without your bank account.”

“True,” Harry says with a shrug and grin as it was something to be proud of.

Niall rolls his eyes again and shakes his head.

“You’re absolutely hopeless.”

Harry laughs and he pulls him down. They lie there for a small while, cuddling, but per usual, Harry ruins it;

“Want to hook up?”

“ _Hareeh!_ ”

 

_###_

 

The rest of the days goes without further incidents, except the part where he overhears people gossiping that Louis and Stacy are back to being friends and when he asks Louis all he gets is a mysterious smirk, but is enough for Niall; he can’t wait to witness the rebirth of Stacy and Louis’ friendship.

Of course the threat of the Stalker still looms over Niall like a dark cloud, but ever since Louis had told him he’d take care of it, Niall had felt more at ease; just an effect Louis has had on him since they met.

He hasn’t talked to Zayn, barely seen him except a few glimpses here and there, but he’d talked briefly to Liam who’d assured him that no, he didn’t hate him and no, they hadn’t formed a ‘Niall Hate Club’; though he’d looked a bit offended that Niall would think that.

They day ends in cuddles and kisses in Louis’ bed that night with Harry sleeping soundly at the other end of the room, though Niall isn’t completely sure that he is actually sleeping; you never know with that boy.

The kissing with Louis is growing gradually hotter and messier, their spit slicked mouth moving hungrily over each other, slotting perfectly, teeth nipping and hands wandering. Niall clutches Louis tee tight, his hips curling wantonly and he gasps as Louis moves his fervent, fierce kisses to his throat and neck. Louis hands are groping his bum and Niall is getting increasingly turned on, a bulge rising in his boxer shorts.

“Louis,” Niall whines and drapes his thigh over Louis’ hip, bringing them closer. He feels so hot, but there’s not a chance in hell he’s going to have sex with Harry right there in the room.

Louis hums, biting gently at Niall’s creamy collarbone, one hand moving between his legs, fondling him there. Niall gasps a little too loudly and bucks into Louis’ hand.

“L-Louis, we can’t—ah—Harry’s right _there_!”

Louis’ response is to push him flat on his back, moving to hover over him, one knee between his parted thighs.

“Then keep quiet, Princess,” he says with a smirk and reaches into the front of Niall’s boxers and pulls out his hardened cock. Niall moans, spreading his thighs lewdly and pushing up into Louis’ hand that strokes him slow and steady.

“God, you’re so hot.” Louis says and Niall blinks up at him. If Niall’s is hot then he doesn’t know what Louis is, with his rumpled hair, lazy smirk and dark gaze. Niall reaches up and strokes down Louis’ sharp cheekbone and he can’t believe that this unpredictable boy is _his_.

He’s about to say something, but stops once he hears the unmistakable sound of sheet rustling from the other end of the room. His breath hitches and he grabs Louis’ wrist, stopping his motions as he stares wide-eyed at Louis, listening.

“He’s waking up,” Niall whispers, panicked. 

Louis chuckles breathlessly, “Whoever said he was asleep?” before Niall can even comprehend those words, Louis grabs his arms and pulls him up in a sitting position. He pulls Niall between his legs, he spreads Niall’s legs and reaches for his cock once again. Niall whimpers, gripping Louis’ arm.

“W-What did you just say?” He asks breathlessly.

“How long are you going to pretend that you’re sleeping and not touching yourself, Harold?” Louis asks with laughter in his voice and Niall freezes completely at that and he stares at the other end of half-dark room where Harry is lying with his back to them.

There’s a moment of complete silence then Harry groans irritably.

“You are a shit, Louis,” Harry says though with a fond undertone and the sheets pool around him as he sits up, facing them. Then to Niall’s utter mortification, he reaches into his sweats and pulls out his half-hard dick. He blinks at them, “Well, continue, please,” he says as if the circumstances are completely normal.

Louis laughs and begins stroking Niall’s dick and it takes a long moment for Niall to break out of his shock-induced paralysis. He lets out a loud, embarrassing squeak and rips the sheet to him, covering himself.

“ _Louis!_ What are you doing!?”

“Aw come on, it’s not like I haven’t seen everything already,” Harry says with a pout and his words combined with his actions—which are stroking dick leisurely—doesn’t even add up. Niall’s cheeks are giving off more heat than thousands of suns combined, especially when Louis tuts at him and tugs the sheets off, exposing him.

Niall lets out a squeal that trails off into a gasp when Louis squeezes his dick and pumps him harder through a slightly too tight fist. Niall has no idea what the fuck is going on, doesn’t know why Louis is jerking him off while Harry is watching.

He gulps, because Harry is indeed _looking_ at him, eyes dark and focused, strokes measured as he watches Louis’ hand on Niall’s dick. The embarrassing thing is that having Harry’s eyes on him like that is only making Niall’s dick twitch in Louis’ hand.

“I had my suspicions,” Louis says hotly into his ear, nipping at his earlobe, “and guess what, I think you’re a little exhibitionist.”

Niall’s cheeks burns and whimpers, pushing shamelessly up into Louis’ hand. Harry groans quietly and when Niall looks over, he’s pumping his dick faster, chewing at his bottom lip. The sight makes precum dribble from the head of Niall’s cock and Niall could die of embarrassment if he wasn’t so turned on.

Louis grins, “Knew it,” he says in an annoyingly self-satisfied voice. “You like all the attention, don’t you?”

“Oh, shut up,” Niall groans, but of course Louis isn’t going to let this slide,

“You like Harry watching you get off, isn’t that so, Princess?” He squeezes his cock and Niall throws his head back with a breathless moan.

“God, we should have that threesome,” Harry says breathlessly, “It’d be so hot.”

“Baby steps, Harold,” Louis says.

“What is _that_ supposed to mean!” Niall gasps out, horrified. Louis had never voiced an opinion the countless of times Harry would bring it up which had led Niall to assume he didn’t take it seriously. He once again proved that you simply couldn’t predict whatever he was thinking. Was he really okay with things like that?

“You’d like Harry and I manhandling you, hmm? Passing you around?” He whispers hotly into his ear, “Just taking turns fucking you?”

The visuals those words provide is what sets Niall off, with a guttural moan he unfolds and comes in hot spurts, all over Louis’ hand. Through his orgasm, he manages to register Harry choke out a “fuck” as he comes as well. Louis milks him through it until Niall is spent and he collapses against Louis, panting harshly.

Louis chuckles.

“Well…that was interesting.”  
All Niall can think about—eyes closed and cheeks red— is how his life came to this.

 

The next morning, when Niall sneaks out of the room so he doesn’t have to face either Louis or Harry after last night’s incident, he routinely checks his mail on his computer. His breath hitches when he sees the new message sitting in his inbox.

It’s from Chanel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone. As you've all properly guessed by now, I haven't been motivated to update this or for that matter any of my other stories. I'm sincerely sorry for having left you hanging so long, but I've been swept up in life and school. 
> 
> Again i apologize. I wrote this so you could know that I'm not dead. Just lost my writing mojo with no idea how to get it back. For the time being, I plan on continuing the story till its end. However I can't tell how long it'll take and when the next update is. 
> 
> I want to thank you all for the support and feedback you've given me. They meant so very much to me. I hope you'll keep this story bookmarked and check on it. Thank you.
> 
> and happy new year! Hope you all stay safe xoxo


	18. 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It has been precisely 5 months and one day since I last updated. In other words, _forever_. And I know, I'm trash and I can't even apologize enough. I don't know if anyone cares about this story anymore, but I have a new chapter for you. I haven't been writing in a while and I'm rusty because of that. So I apologize so many times if this chapter feels a bit weird or off. it's a bit shorter than usual. And I haven't proofread properly.
> 
> But I have good news!  
> I have managed to write an outline for the rest of the story and I'm planning to update once a week. There'll be approximately 24-25 chapters in total. Please, bear with me.
> 
> Enough of my rambling. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 18

The dining hall is completely empty, it’s so peaceful that one can see the dust particles dancing in the ray of sun falling through the high windows.

Niall gets some coffee and an apple and leaves the cafeteria before it’s populated with obnoxious, rich kids. Around the time where normal people wake up—normal teenagers who aren’t being stalked and mind-fucked— Niall gets a text from Louis asking him where he is. Niall looks around the room where his first class of the day is going to be in about nearly an hour. He ignores Louis text and when Louis calls, he turns his phone off.

Once his classmates finally begin to arrive to the class, Niall doesn’t really see them, doesn’t really hear their curious murmurs as they send him long, curious glances. He knows he looks like a right mess, even worse than yesterday, but all that occupies his thoughts are Chanel’s email.

**He made me do it**

Five words. Five fucking words that had been fucking with Niall’s head since he saw them. He’d stared at them for a while, knowing exactly who she meant. Before he could stop himself, he typed out a defensive;

_Proof it!!_.

He’d clicked the send button, but all he got back was a _“this email account doesn’t exist”_. Niall had let out a frustrated cry which had startled Conrad awake. Conrad had looked at him with wide eyes and if he wasn’t convinced before that Niall was an escaped lunatic, he sure as hell was now. Niall had been so upset that he hadn’t even apologized and had muttered foul words under his breath, tugging at his hair.

According to Chanel, she had done it, she had drugged Zayn but Louis had made her do it. 

But how is Niall supposed to believe her when she hasn’t provided any evidence? No, he knows very well that a part of him believes Chanel. She hadn’t been the kind of girl to go that far just to break Niall and Zayn apart, she hadn’t been that obsessed with Zayn, right? Did Niall know her well enough to rule out that possibility? Niall is in doubt. Who is the crazy one? Chanel or Louis? _Both_?

If Niall doesn’t know Chanel, then he sure as heck knows Louis. Louis who has no problem using every dirty trick in the book to get what he wants. Louis has blackmailed people before without blinking, Louis who’d manipulated people, Louis who’d gotten kids thrown out of school, Louis who Niall is beginning to believe has a real issue with lying and playing mind games. It wouldn’t surprise Niall if Louis had blackmailed Chanel. He’d done it before. Maybe he’d even blackmailed her to leave the school?

The more he thinks about, the more livid he becomes. He knows that if he sees Louis’ stupid face, he might end up smacking him hard in front of this whole Goddamn school.

It also makes him indefinitely sad, it makes him want to curl up in bed and cry. It makes him doubt his relationship with Louis.

“Mr. Horan!”

Niall lets out a startled squeak and falls out of the chair, landing hard on the cold floor. The class erupts in deafening laughter and Niall’s face burns in embarrassment. He looks up at Mrs. Hills who’s staring him down with her small, pointy hawk-eyes, her hands on her hip and her mouth drawn in a disapproving line.

“Y-yes?” He stutters as he scrambles back on his seat, cheeks still burning as everyone snickers at him. 

“I’ve been calling your name for the last half-minute,” Mrs. Hills says and scans him with her piercing gaze. “Are you alright?”

“Um—yeah, I’m good, I’m fine,” Niall says and self-consciously runs a hand through his messy hair. He won’t be surprised if he actually has drool-stains on his face or something; he’d been too upset to care about anything.

“You don’t look fine. You look…drained,” Mrs. Hills says carefully and looks concerned. Niall knows by drained she means absolute shit and his cheeks burn brighter as he hangs his head.

“Um, I didn’t sleep well,” he mutters.

Mrs. Hills looks down at him for a moment, before walking back up to the desk and producing a yellow slip from her drawer. 

“You can take the rest of the class off,” She says and gestures for Niall to pack his things up. “I’ll send you the homework over the mail.”

Niall isn’t going to argue with that, he avoids everyone’s eyes as he quickly gathers his books and shuffles up to Mrs. Hills. “Thank you,” he mutters and takes the slip, escaping out into the hallway.

He lets out a deep sigh and slumps against the cold, brick wall, closing his eyes for a moment. He feels so _exhausted_ in every sense of the word and he wonders how much more he can take before he reaches the point of unfixable, it surely can’t take much longer.

He lets out another life-tired sigh and ventures out of the class building, maybe he’s lucky and he can take a nap in the library. He does get a nap in the library, it’s so good in fact that he misses half of the second period. His teacher isn’t impressed when he interrupts the class, looking disheveled and panting like he’d run around the globe. He mutters an apology and shuffles to the back of his class, his head bowed.

He passes by Zayn who is eyeing him concerned but when he sees Niall looking, he looks away. Niall swallows and hides behind his book, trying desperately to concentrate on whatever the teacher is saying.

He has a feeling that if he doesn’t get his shit together, then his grades will get him kicked out long before the stalker gets the chance.

 

_###_

 

Louis is waiting for him in front of the café at lunch and Niall feels so done with everything, he doesn’t have the patience to deal with Louis right now. Niall spares him a short glance and walks right passed him, of course Louis follows closely behind.

“Are you going to tell me what this is about?” He asks.

Niall ignores him and joins the line to the counter, “Fuck off, Louis,” he says quietly but firmly.

Louis steps up close behind him, so close that all of Niall’s senses is invaded by the scent of freshly-washed clothes and his shampoo—no cologne. “Really, now?” He asks incredulously. “What did I do?”

Niall spins around to glare at Louis. He looks well-rested and healthy. Of course he does, he isn’t the one being stalked and blackmailed and mindfucked. “Why don’t you tell me, Louis?”

Louis scans him like he’s trying to look into his brain, but he obviously fails as he frowns impatiently. “Let’s talk. Outside,” he says and grabs Niall’s elbow to drag him out, but Niall yanks his arm out of his grip.

“No,” he hisses. “Just back off, alright?”

Louis looks flabbergasted, then he looks pissed. He glances around at their peers who are watching them closely and Niall knows that the last thing Louis wants is to make a scene. Niall is counting on that.

Louis gives him a hard look and Niall ignores him, turning his back to him. They stand in the line in complete and tense silence. Niall pays for his coffee and walks away to find a table without waiting for Louis. 

He spots his usual table in the back, nicely hidden away and private. As he walks towards it, he passes by a small group of sophomore girls who are staring at him; Niall clenches his teeth and decides that he’s going to ignore it.

“…I heard he only sleeps with guys in relationships!”

That sentence reaches his ear and he comes to a sudden halt. There are many things he could ignore, in fact, he’d ignored bullshit like that for way too long but this is the straw that broke the camel’s back; he has been the target for malicious gossip for far too long and it’s time he put a stop to it.

He spins around and glares at the girls who freeze up in shock. “What did you just say?” he splutters angrily, fists clenching tightly. The girls seem to be shocked into silence and they just stare at him, wide-eyed and open-mouthed; they’d obviously hadn’t expected him to confront them, they had expected him to bow his head and take the abuse as usual.

“No. Fuck, you don’t get to say this about me,” he said, voice slowly spiraling out of control and the whole café turns to stare at him. “This goes for all of you!” He says loudly and looks around at everyone, he spots Harry, Zayn and Liam sitting in the back, all of them staring at him wide-eyed. “None of you fucking knows me! Don’t talk about shit you don’t know. Why don’t you try to focus on your own lives for a change? or are your lives so empty that you have to fill it with mine? And oh, maybe you _should_ keep a closer eye on your boyfriends because apparently they all rather crawl on top of _me_ than you!” 

The whole café in consumed in deafening, shocked silence. Niall is breathing heavily and looks around the room, daring anyone to say anything. 

Louis carefully comes up behind him and puts a hand on his shoulder. “Niall.”

Niall shakes Louis off and shoots him a vicious glare. Then he turns on his heels and storms out.

 

_###_

 

Niall uses his lunch time to cool down or else he might end up assaulting some unfortunate rich kid who’s only crime was looking at him a second too long. Louis doesn’t approach him or sends him a text or calls him and Niall is entirely grateful that he got the message. He needs space. A lot of it.

He gets through the rest of his classes without any incident and he’s surprised to see Liam standing outside his last class with a cautious smile and gentle eyes.

“Hey,” Liam says and pushes away from the wall he’d been leaned against.

“Hey,” Niall says, unsure what to expect. His interactions with Liam had been rare ever since their little group split up in two. He walks down the hall and Liam easily falls into steps with him.

“How are you?” He asks and the second he does, he looks sheepish. “That’s a very stupid question, right?”

Niall manages a small smile. “A little.” He eyes Liam. “What’s up?”

Liam shrugs as they walk out in the semi-cold air. “Just wanted to check up on you,” he says and shoots Niall a sweet smile. Niall isn’t as easily deceived as he used to be. Liam isn’t all sweet angles, but Niall appreciates the effort nonetheless. “That wasn’t pretty back there.”

Niall sighs. “I lost it.”

“No kidding. Wanna talk about it?”

Niall looks at Liam. “Um…yeah.” He would like to talk about what Chanel had sent him with someone before he lost his mind. His first option would’ve been Harry, but that boy is extremely biased towards Louis, so Liam was definitely the better choice in this case.

They walk along the cobble-path street and make their way to Niall’s room. Conrad isn’t there so Niall invites Liam to take a seat wherever he wants and throws himself onto his bed with an exhausted groan.

Liam perches neatly on Niall’s desk chair and waits patiently for Niall to say something.

Niall stares at the ceiling for a few moments, before he pushes himself up in a sitting position and looks at Liam. “How did you and Louis become friends?

Niall is curious. Liam and Louis are probably polar opposite, yet they were close friends.

Liam looks a bit puzzled at the question. “Um. Well, we both came here our freshman year and I think I’ve told you this, but Louis was so new and refreshing to me. I’ve always grown up following the rules and striving for acceptance and Louis was the complete opposite. I thought he was so cool. I still think he is. To a certain degree, but he taught me to not take myself so seriously.”

Niall stares imploringly at Liam. “And you had a crush on him.”

The blush on Liam’s cheeks is totally worth it. “Eh...yeah but it was more like ‘you’re cool I want to be your friend’ kind of thing?”

Niall wants to prod more at it, he can imagine 15-year old careful Liam looking at 15-year old wild Louis with wide, adoring eyes, but he decides to let him off the hook. He didn’t bring him here to tease him.

“Has he always been like this?” When Liam looks confused, he clarifies. “Manipulative, controlling, sociopathic?”

Liam looks a bit shocked at Niall’s choice of words. “Louis has always been…Louis.” Liam shakes his head and looks at Niall with concerned eyes. “Niall, what’s wrong? Did something happen between the two of you?”

He clearly saw the way Niall brushed Louis off at the café, everyone probably had and Niall is surprised Louis hasn’t hunted him down for that yet. He sighs and drags a hand down his face.

“Remember Chanel?” He watches Liam’s expression transform into wary. “She sent me an email that said Louis made her drug Zayn.”

Niall watches Liam’s expression and even though his eyes widened, he doesn’t look terribly surprised. He looks down at his trousers and pulls a loose string out, before he looks back at Niall.

“Niall. How do you know she isn’t lying?” He asks reasonably.

“How do I know she isn’t telling?” Niall shoots back.

Liam looks uncomfortable. “You should just let it go. I mean, it’s done and nothing can change what happened.”

“I need to know Liam. I’m tired of being lied to.”

Liam slumps a bit and sighs. “I don’t know what to tell you”

“Do you think he did it?”

Liam doesn’t answer immediately and for Niall, that spoke louder than words.

“Niall,” Liam says. “Do you want the truth? The truth is that you never, ever want to get onto Louis’ bad side.”

Niall knows, but right now, he doesn’t care.

_###_

After his talk with Liam, Niall finds himself on a familiar path to that building just a little further away from all the others.

The Art Cemetery.

Niall wants to talk to Zayn. Even though things ended pretty bad between them, it doesn’t erase everything they’ve been through together. It doesn’t erase what they felt for each other. That isn’t something that dies a fiery death, no matter how much Zayn wants it to.

Zayn looked concerned earlier today, so Niall has hope. With the memories flooding his mind he makes his way into the cemetery and smiles when he sees the light on. He carefully pushes the door open and peeks inside.

His heart stops. Inside are Zayn and Perrie. Perrie is sitting in Zayn’s lap on the couch and Zayn has his mouth against her with his hand under her skirt. Niall stares for a few moments, unable to move and while he doesn’t blame Zayn for moving on, it doesn’t stop him from feeling a sharp pang in his stomach.

The last thing he needs is for Zayn to see him, so he quickly backs out and escapes.

_###_

 

“Good job everyone! Read up on Truman’s policies for next Thursday and remember to revise the debate points for the match in a couple of weeks!” Stacy dismisses the Debate club and everyone begins to gather their stuff, chatting among each other.

Niall is sitting in the far back and takes longer stuffing his books in his bag. The other kids have yet to warm up to him and to a degree, Niall doesn’t blame them at all. The impression they’ve gotten of him through gossip and rumors isn’t the pretties. He’s about to shuffle outside when he’s stopped by Stacy.

“Wait up, Horan.”

Niall stops up and turns towards her, wary. He hopes she isn’t going to scold him for not participating and daydreaming. She grabs her bag and walks up to him, looking him over.

“How are you?”

That catches Niall off guard. Stacy has never shown concern for his well-being. 

“Um. Ok,” he mutters, gathering that she’d probably witnessed his break-down in the café or at least heard about it.

Stacy nods and doesn’t say anything for a while. The silence drags on to the point of awkward until she lets out a deep sigh.

“Ok. I’ll help you,” she says with unhidden reluctance.

Niall blinked at her, confused. “What? What are you talking about?”

She stares him down like he’s an idiot and she has a certain talent for that. “I’ll help you sort your sad life out,” she says and swings her dark hair over her shoulder.

Niall stares at her. “What?”

“How did you get into this school?” She says with a roll of her eyes. “You heard me. I’ll help you sort your life out. Starting with catching your little stalker.”

Niall was utterly confused. “ _Why?_?” He eyes Stacy suspiciously. There was no way she was doing this out of the goodness of her heart. 

“Because you’re dragging us down,” Stacy says with great irritation. “If you’re going to be a part of this team, I need you to be focused. I know that you can be useful when your mind isn’t occupied by your messy life. So, I’m doing this for the _team_.”

Aha. Of course. Niall sighs deeply and crosses his arms indignantly. “What can you possibly do?”

“Oh, you’d be surprised,” Stacy says with a smirk. 

Niall eyes her. The last time they got together to solve something, it ended deathly and the never quite were a good team together. But Niall is desperate.

So he looks Stacy in the eyes and says, “Okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If we've learned anything from this story is that an team-up between Stacy and Niall can only end bad!
> 
> There'll be a big revelation in the next chapter and i'm so excited to write it! :)
> 
> Till next time xxx


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am surprised and absolutely thrilled that I got so much feedback on the last chapter! I was seriously not expecting that, that many people had stayed and waited for an update!
> 
> But thank you so much for everyone who read, gave a kudo and commented on the last chapter! You're all lovely and you gave me the motivation to write the next chapter. I love each and every one of you <3
> 
> I hope you enjoy this on your lazy Sunday!
> 
> (and there's a GG reference somewhere in there!)

CHAPTER 19

Later after the debate club, when Niall returns to his room, Louis is waiting for him and Niall is anything but surprised. He glances at Louis who’s staring penetratingly at him and drops his bag on the floor.

He takes a deep breath and looks at Louis. “What?”

Louis just stares at him and Niall stares right back until they enter a heated staring contest; Niall refuses to back down. He has backed down too many times in his life. Goddamn it.

“Get out of my room, Louis,” Niall says steadily. Louis eyes narrows and Niall grows wary. He doesn’t expect for Louis to rise to his feet, grab him and shove him down on the bed. Before Niall can even think of retaliating, Louis is on top of him, pinning him down and as much as Louis doesn’t look like it, he’s heavy. Niall gasps, surprised.

“What the fuck are you doing!” He exclaims and raises his hand to swat Louis’ face, but Louis easily grabs his wrist in a vice-like grip.

“ _Louis_!” Niall snarls and struggles against Louis, “Get the fuck off!”

Louis is surprisingly stronger than he looks and he easily holds Niall down, using his weight and pinning his hands by his head. Niall glares up at him as viscously as he can, but Louis just returns it with glare that is far more intimidating.

“Talk,” Louis demands through gritted teeth, his blunt nails digging into Niall’s wrist, making the boy let out a small hiss. “I’ve put up with your piss-parade for far too long, so talk Horan and tell me what the fuck your deal is.”

Niall isn’t going to let Louis do this; get what he wants, because he always fucking gets what he wants and Niall is sick of it. He glares up at him defiantly.

“No.”

“Niall,” Louis says warningly, his eyes narrowing further but Niall just looks back at him challengingly. “Ok,” Louis says and shifts on top of him, “I can just sit here all day then. Or you could talk. Your choice.”

Niall lasts for about two minutes before Louis’ weight on top of him begins to hurt. “Louis! Get off! I fucking mean it! Get _off_!” He begins to fight Louis off in earnest, trying desperately to get his legs free, practically salivating to kick Louis’ ass but Louis won’t have any of that and they struggle. Until Niall finally knocks Louis off him and Louis falls off the bed. But of course he won’t go down by himself and he grabs Niall, taking him down with him. They end on the carpeted floor with a crash and Louis takes the most of the fall, gasping as the wind is knocked out of him by a jab in the ribs from Niall’s elbow.

Now, Niall is _royally pissed off_.

They wrestle some more on the floor, both of them careful not to inflict too much damage on the other, but so damn annoyed at each other. And Niall doesn’t know how, but suddenly their mouth are pressed together as they exchange hard, angry kisses that leave both their mouths bruised.

Niall was so damn _angry_ and it showed in his rough touches, his nails digging into Louis’ skin under his shirt and judging by the painful grip Louis had in his hair and the way he was shaking slightly, he was angry too. 

This reminded Niall of their first time and how much anger and burning passion there’d been, but unlike their first time, Niall wasn’t going to let things go as far

So when Louis’ hands begins to push under his clothes, digging into Niall’s warm skin, Niall fights him off.

“No, Louis, _no_!”

For once, Louis listens and he stops up apbrutly, his face against Niall’s neck, panting softly. His hand is still curled tightly just above Niall’s hip, hard enough to leave a bruise behind. Niall stares up at the ceiling.

“Get off,” he whispers hoarsely and feels Louis squeeze tighter, and he bites back a whimper.

“Niall,” Louis says against his neck and his voice is uncharastically soft. “Just…tell me what I did wrong. Please.” And that’s another out of character thing that Louis would never say. Louis doesn’t say _’please’_. He just takes and takes and _takes_ without asking and leaves nothing behind of you.

Niall swallows and closes his eyes when he feels Louis’ lips brush against his neck, lightly, gently, almost like an apology.

“I need to be alone right now.”

There’s complete silence for a moment and Louis doesn’t move. Then, to Niall’s surprise and immense relief, he slowly gets off him. He runs a hand through his hair in a futile attempt to right the mess Niall had made of it and licks across his kiss-bruised lips.

Louis looks at him, once and quickly and with a look Niall can’t decipher, before he opens the door and walks out.

Niall lies there on the floor, his body feeling soar and his heart hurting. Then he gets to his feet and collapses on the bed. He grabs his pillow and screams into it out of sheer frustration.

_###_

Sitting in the semi-dark backroom of the library with a lukewarm café latte and Stacy across from him brings back bad memories. He looks at Stacy as she scribbles something in her notebook. She isn’t wearing as much make-up as she usually is and she looks younger. She’s wearing a long necklace that dips into her provocatively bared cleavage and if Niall had one straight bone in his body—except his dick—he might have been aroused.

“Remember the last time we sat like this, trying to solve something?” He says, voice lowered because the quiet and still atmosphere of the library demands that.

Stacy wrinkles on her nose and looks up at him. “Please. Don’t remind me of that.” She shudders visibly and looks into the distance, probably recalling how Jordan had fooled them. “At least we don’t have to worry about _that_ happening again.”

She looks back at her notes. “Alright. So your stalker has been taking pictures of you and now has an incriminating one of you in the teachers’ building.”

Niall groans at being reminded of it. “Yes,” he said with a heavy sigh.

Stacy looks at him. “And you were in the teachers’ building because you was searching for Chanel’s contacts and she’s the chick who allegedly drugged your boyfriend and broke you up?” Stacy looks amused and Niall has always believed she had sadistic tendencies; Niall’s struggles were entertaining to her. “Your stalker hasn’t used the incriminating picture of you, yet, right?”

Niall nods numbly. “It’s just a question of time before they use it to blackmail me, right?” He is waiting for that moment in stomach-clenching dread.

“Most probably,” Stacy says and taps her pen against the paper. “Unless we find them first.”

“But _how_?” Niall asks. The only way he can imagine is catching the stalker in the act, but that would be difficult.

“Let’s start by finding Chanel,” Stacy says easily and Niall’s heart picks a bit up. That’s what he’d wanted to do from the very start, but he’d had no idea where to start. Stacy looks at him meaningfully. “I have a feeling we might get some answers from her.”

“But how?” Niall asks again, feeling a little dumb.

“Leave it to me,” Stacy says with a smirk, stuffs her little notebook in her bag and gets to her feet. “I’ll get back to you when I find her, ok?”

Niall looks up at her and nods. “Yeah.” He watches her pull on her leather jacket over her skimpy top, before she struts away. For once, Niall feels he might be closer to get answers to his many questions.

_###_

It takes no more than a day for Stacy to find Chanel. Niall gets the text while he’s bent over his ridiculous amount of homework.

_S: Found her. What do you want to do?_

Niall’s heart leaps in his chest and he promptly pushes away from the desk and all his responsibilities to stare at the phone. He hasn’t dared to put his hopes to high in fear that they might be crushed, but Stacy has actually come through.

_Niall: Where?_

_Stacy: New York_

Niall is partly surprised, he’d kind of expected for Chanel to be out of the country, but then he reminded himself she wasn’t a criminal on the run from the law. He stares at the phone and chews at the inside of his cheeks as he contemplates what the best course of action would be. As it is, he can only think of _one_ course of action.

_N: let’s pay her a visist_

_S: this weekend?”_

The weekend is only two days away and the faster Niall gets some answers, the better.

_N: yes_

_Alright._

He is rather surprised that Stacy wants to come with him, but then again, he already knows that Stacy has a love for scandals and uncovering secrets; as much as she might pretend she doesn’t. The more he gets to know her, the more she resembles Louis and it isn’t hard to imagine those two as best friends; partners in crime even, maybe.

The thought of Louis makes Niall’s heart feel heavy. The boy has for once respected Niall’s wishes and kept his distance, giving Niall the space he needs. Niall pushes all thoughts of him out of his mind and turns his attention back on his school work. He would have the answers he wanted soon enough.

For the next couple of days, Niall lets himself get consumed by his academics and extra-curriculum work to keep him distracted from the looming trip to New York this weekend and also, to keep him distracted from Louis. 

He gets so busy that he fails to notice that something seems to be considerably off with the happy, bubbly pop star of the school. Avoiding Louis also meant avoiding Harry, since you nearly always found them at the same place or at least close together, so Niall doesn’t notice Harry’s swindling mood.

He does notice it at breakfast, since it’s unavoidable when the loudest kid at the table suddenly is slumped over his cereal bowl. But he doesn’t make too much of it, just figures the boy has had a terrible night of sleep; Niall is specially intimate with how badly that could ruin you morning.

“Hey, superstar,” he says and nudges Harry’s foot under the table. “What’s up? Haven’t gotten laid lately?”

Harry looks up through curls that looks dull like he hasn’t showered and gives Niall a frail smile. "“What? Um no…it’s nothing…” he trails off into something unintelligible and then Louis puts a hand on Harry’s back, his brows scrunched together. Harry seems to collapse a little more in his chair, shifting.

Niall would probably have been more alert if it wasn’t for Zayn and Perrie strolling through the doors—they’re accompanied by Liam and a couple of others from the house, but it’s hard to notice them when Zayn and Perrie look like they’re ready to be photographed for the front cover of some magazine. Niall can’t help but stare and while he doesn’t know what he feels, he can’t help but find it odd; he never thought that Perrie would forgive Zayn for cheating.

It’s first later when Harry doesn’t show up for their shared Physics class that Niall begins to get worried and he sends him a quick text, _’hey where r you?’_ , as he tries to reassure himself that Harry lost time playing with Panda or chatting up the next notch on his belt. He doesn’t get an answer and he has to ignore the gnawing worry in his belly to focus on his class.

The lunch comes by and the rest of the classes without a sign of Harry and the first thing Niall does after his final class is head to the boy’s room.

He pushes into Louis and Harry’s shared room without knocking and the sight that meets him is rather unexpected. Louis is sitting on the bed against the headboard cuddling what seems to be a softly crying Harry against his chest, his fingers running smoothly through his tangled curls as he whispers what Niall assumes are comforting words.

They both look up when Niall enters and he feels like an intruder. His heart sinks to his toes when he sees Harry’s red and teary eyes and his running nose and the tears softly rolling down his flushed cheeks. It’s the first time he realizes that he’s never seen Harry crying and he’s absolutely grateful for that, because the scene is absolutely _heartbreaking_. 

“Harry?” he says softly, unsure of what to do. What he wants to do is gather Harry up in his arms, cuddle him, dry his tears away, and just protect him from whatever is hurting him.

Harry sniffles softly and manages a weak smile. “Hi,” he says and then he holds a hand out, making a grabbing motion towards Niall and Niall gets the messages. He comes forward and grabs Harry’s hand, nuzzling it against his cheek.

“Hi,” he says quietly and sits down on the edge of the bed. He looks up and meets Louis’ gaze but quickly looks back at Harry. “What happened?”

“Just…had a shit performance the other night,” Harry muttered croakily and played with Niall’s fingers. “And I…um…I went online, because I just…I knew I was bad and I just wanted to see other’s agreeing with me and there was just this…this huge amount of people hating on me and saying all kind of horrible stuff and it isn’t just this time. It happens all the time, but I’m usually able to ignore it, but then there’s other times when I can’t.”

Harry’s curls are getting longer and Niall grabs one and tucks it behind Harry’s ear. He has never seen Harry crack under the pressure of fame like this before, but he has a feeling it might have happened without his knowledge. It absolutely breaks his heart that anyone could be mean towards someone like Harry. Seriously, Niall might never have met someone as loveable as him.

“They don’t know what they’re talking about,” Niall says, smiling. “You’re fricking amazing!”

“I’ve told you over and over again, don’t lose sleep over mindless sheep—you’re ten times more successful than them,” Louis interjects and squeezes Harry’s arm. “Come on Harold, you’re the only one in this school who makes his own money. Now that’s achievement, wouldn’t you say?”

Niall looks up at Louis and to his surprise Louis is looking at him. Niall has experienced it a million times before—the way Louis’ words just impacts you a little more than others. One thing he’s sure of is that, that isn’t something you can learn, is something you’re born with. He lowers his gaze to Harry.

“Thanks guys,” he sniffles. “You know what would make me feel better?”

“If we take turn fucking the sadness out of you?” Louis says at the same time as Niall says, “Don’t say a threesome, please.”

Niall’s eyes widen a bit at Louis’ words and Louis looks mildly amused. Harry blinks slowly as his face slowly morphs into the usual cheeky one and Niall knows what’s coming before he even says it.

“Well…I was just going to say if you both cuddle me and bring me some warm chocolate and maybe do my Spanish homework for me, but hey, that’ll definitely work as well.”

Niall laughs softly, “shut up, you idiot,” he says fondly and pinches Harry’s cheek. “I’ll get you a warm drink.” He looks around and only then realize the absence of a certain little flurry creature. “Where’s Panda?”

“I got Zayn to take care of her. I didn’t want her to see me sad.”

That is such a _Harry-thing_ to do, Niall is smiling fondly all the way to the coffee machine.

_###_

Eventually the weekend rolls around and it’s feel like it took forever and that it came too fast at the same time. While Niall is more than ready to hear some answers, he’s also dreading what kind of answers he might stumble upon.

Stacy and he leaves early Saturday morning while most of the campus are still asleep. She’d brought her car; a sleek, shiny red thing that probably costs more than Niall will ever own. She’s wearing a white dress and it always a little shock to see her in anything but black, with huge shades and an even hugger hat. Niall isn’t sure if she’s consciously trying to disguise herself. She gives Niall simple jeans and hoodie a criticizing glance as he settles into the car.

“How did you find out where she lives?” He asks as soon as they drive through the mighty gates of Prescott Academy.

“I have my ways,” She answers cryptically as the wind tosses her hair here and there and she has to hold onto the hat to prevent it from blowing away—Niall wonders if she realized how unpractical it was before this moment. But she still manages to look like something out of a car catalogue or a movie.

“Why do you rich kids have to be so damn cryptic all the time,” Niall mutters.

She smirks. “Because it’s so much more fun.”

Niall rolls his eyes and decides to enjoy the warm sun and the flowery scent of spring in the air. Stacy reaches for the stereo and turns the radio on. To Niall’s surprise, one of Harry’s songs come on, an upbeat and fun tune. Stacy makes a _’tsk’_ sound and quickly changes station and another one of Harry’s hit singles blares out. Niall can’t help but laugh.

“I guess he’s popular, huh?” He teases.

Stacy takes her hat off and puts it in her lap. “Beats me why,” she mutters and turns the radio off completely. She pops in an old Lana Del ray CD and while Niall would’ve liked to listen to Harry, he doesn’t mind terribly—he has a wide musical taste.

They drive another mile in silence other than Lana’s crooning and their wind in their hair, when Stacy asks “What exactly is your plan?” 

“Good question,” Niall says with a sigh.

Stacy glances at him. “Seriously? You don’t have a plan?”

“Other than asking for answers, no,” Niall mutters. Really, it’s beyond him what else there is to do. Stacy lets out a sigh and lowers the sunglasses so she can send him a pitiful look.

“When has being nice ever worked?” She asks. “You’re lucky I’m with you.”

Niall knows. He has a feeling Stacy is the next best thing in a situation like this. After Louis.

They arrive to New York and Niall is just as awed and excited as all his other times here. He hopes Stacy will allow them to stay a few more hours enjoying the best city in the world. They drive around for nearly an hour and just as Niall is beginning to get convinced that they’re lost, do they slide into a part of town that looks richer with bushes and trees everywhere.

Stacy pulls up at the curb in front of a wrought-iron gate. “We are here,” she announces as she climbs out of the car and runs a finger through her hair before she perches the hat back on. “Shall we do this?”

Niall looks up at the gate and gulps quietly. “Um. Yeah.” He mutters and gets off as well. As a lady with diamond earrings and huge, obnoxious jewels on her neck slides by, taking her dog for a walk, Niall feels grossly underdressed. 

He follows Stacy’s confident strides up to the gates and she hits the buzzer that’s built into the stone wall. Within seconds, a large, imposing man in a green doorman’s uniform emerges and stares Niall down like he’s a street-rat.

“Can I help you?” He all but sneers and Niall cowers a bit. Stacy steps forward and it doesn’t escape Niall’s notice the way his gaze slides over Stacy, eyes lingering on her exposed cleavage; he feels like gagging.

“We’re here to see Chanel,” Stacy says with a smile. “We’re old friends.”

The doorman eyes them and then he disappears for a couple of second, before returning. Niall is sure he’s going to call the cops on them, but to his relief, he gestures for them to go inside. Niall follows Stacy inside and they’re guided to take the elevator to the top floor. As soon as they reach the top floor, they’re greeted by a maid who leads them into a gorgeous apartment with fresh flowers everywhere.

“Ms. Palmer will be with you in a minute,” The maid informs them as she seats them in the living room. The couch they sit on is so white that Niall is kind of terrified he might leave a smudge of dirt or something behind. 

“I’m surprised she let us up,” Niall murmurs as he looks around the room, taking in everything. He is unsurprised to find all the pieces of art hanging around and he can’t help but feel that Chanel might actually have been a better fit for Zayn than he ever could dream of being.

He doesn’t get time to dwell on these thoughts for too long, because the next second, Chanel walks in. She looks just gorgeous if not _more_ than Niall remembers her; she’s gotten a hair cut and side-swept bangs. The second she lays her eyes on them, she freezes in the door.

She looks around as if she’s expecting someone else as well. “What are you doing here?” She asks quietly, her accent thick.

Niall sits up straighter. “We are here to get some answers.” 

Chanel pulls her bottom into her mouth for a moment and stares at him. “Get out,” she says and Niall had kind of expected as much. He shakes his head.

“No. Not before we get some answers.” And he’s proud of how firm he sounds.

“I’ve already told you everything I know,” Chanel says quietly, her fingers clenching a little by the sides. “Didn’t you get my email. I already told you, please leave.”

“Who was ‘he’?” Niall asks, refusing to back down. “You can’t expect to send something as cryptic as that and expect me to just be fine with it!”

“Louis,” Chanel says and Niall’s heart sinks. He can feel Stacy’s eyes on him and he can’t look at her in fear of a _’I told you so’_ look. He stares at Chanel, tries to find the lies in her face but she just stares right back.

Niall wets his lips. “Did Louis outright tell you to drug Zayn?”

Chanel shifts and looks away, crossing her arms a bit. “No…but he did imply it heavily,” she says as she looks back at Niall. “He manipulated me. Put the idea in my head without outright saying it and made me feel like I’d come up with it on my own.”

Niall clings to that. Louis hadn’t told her point blank to drug Zayn. That counts for something; that is huge. And for everything else she said, she could be lying.

“Did he blackmail you?” Stacy speaks up, scrutinizing Chanel

Chanel doesn’t say anything for a moment too long. “He didn’t!” Niall exclaims, feeling relief flood his whole body. “And he didn’t _make_ you drug Zayn! You did that yourself!”

“He wanted me, Niall,” Chanel says so confidently that it throws Niall a bit off.

“What?”

“Zayn wanted me,” Chanel clarifies simply.

Niall shakes his head. “No. No, he didn’t. you just admitted to drugging him!”

Chanel lowers her eyes. “I did. But he still wanted me. I know it’s not what you want to hear, but I know his type. What’s that saying? _Once a cheater, always a cheater_. It’s just who he is. Even if he loved you, he’d cheat on you. Even if I haven’t gotten into the picture. That’s the truth that you refuses to see in the eye.”

How fucking dare she. Is all Niall can think. The woman just confessed that she drugged Zayn and in doing that, turned Niall’s suspicion on Louis. He could feel himself losing it.

“Shut up! Don’t talk about my relationship with Zayn like you know anything about it! You’re _sick_!”

Chanel looks offended. “I’m not going to sit here and let you talk to me like that in my own home,” she says and points towards the exit. “Get out of my house before I call the cops!”

Niall glares at her, his jaw clenching rhythmically. “Whatever. We’re done here anyways,” he huffs and rises to his feet. Stacy, however, doesn’t follow him and he looks down to see her busy looking at something on her phone.

“Stacy?”

Stacy looks up at Chanel with a smirk that can’t bear anything good. “Sure. We’ll leave. As soon as you tell us what your connection to Erika Hoffman is.”

Chanel freezes as her eyes turns big in her face. Niall is momentarily confused. “What? Erika?” The name sounds familiar to him, but he can’t figure out why. But then it hits him, _hard_. Erika was the girl with the messy curls that had been obsessed with taking sneaky pictures of Zayn. Louis had used Niall to bully her out of school. The memory and her supposed connection to Chanel leaves his stomach stone cold.

He stares at Chanel, shocked. “You know her?”

“Yes she does,” Stacy says in that triumphant tone of winning and rises to her feet. “Apparently you and Erika went to elementary school together and were pretty close friends.”

“How did you find out?” Chanel says and still looks shocked. Nearly as shocked as Niall feels. His head spins a little with that new, uncovered information.

“Oh. I have my ways,” Stacy says with a teasing smirk.

Niall can feel the pieces falling into place and he gets the feeling that he might have uncovered more than he thought he would. “Is she…is she the one who sent you to break me and Zayn up? To get revenge or something on me?”

Chanel refuses to say anything and just stares at them.

“You better speak,” Stacy says with a hidden warning under her tone. “What does she have over you?”

Niall simply can’t imagine Erika with the messy curls and wide, scared eyes blackmailing anyone. But if he’d learned anything lately is that apparently no one is what they seem to be.

Chanel looks mighty irritated. “Let’s just say I owe her,” she says simply.

Niall doesn’t know what to believe and he has problems processing all of this.

“So…so it was her?” Erika had been obsessed with Zayn. No wonder she picked Niall out as her primal target. Chanel looks over at him.

“You must really have pissed her off. I’ve never seen her so mad.”

“But why _me_?!” Louis had been the one behind it and while Niall might have had a choice, he hadn’t felt like it at the time. He shakes his head. Of course Erika would put all the blame on him: he is the easier target. Fucking hell.

Then a thought hits Niall like a wrecking ball.

“Wait…is she…is she one stalking me?” it would make sense. She is out to ruin Niall and she had a thing for taking sneaky photographs; Niall recalls the touch of artistry in all the photos, they weren’t blurry, shadowy messes. They were professionally taken shots.

“I can’t tell you that,” Chanel says.

“Why?” Stacy asks sharply.

“Because I don’t know,” Chanel says with a hint of snap in her voice. “I’ve told you everything I know.”

“It’s her,” Niall says and steadies himself against a desk, feeling a bit wobbly at this new revelation. “She’s the one who’d been behind it all along. Oh God.”

“Please leave,” Chanel requests and Stacy walks up behind Niall and puts a steadying hand between his shoulder blades.

“Come on.”

_###_

 

Zayn is working on a new piece.

Niall stands in the door leading into Zayn’s little lair, unsure if he should interrupt or leave; he doesn’t think something like this can wait though, so he stands there and watches Zayn’s drags his brush across the canvas in concentrated strokes. He watches for a few minutes before he softly clears his throat.

Zayn stops what he’s doing and turns around. He’s wearing his glasses and he looks surprised to see Niall.

“What are you doing here?” He asks and Niall is relieved that he doesn’t sound as hostile as usual.

“Um…I just wanted to tell you something,” Niall says and steps further into the room.

Zayn takes off his glasses and dips the brush in the glass jar of water. He turns to look at Niall with a reluctantly curious expression.

“What?”

Niall takes a deep breath. “I found out who did it,” he says. “Who drugged you and who’s been stalking me.”

Zayn’s brows come together in a frown. “Someone’s been stalking—“

“Yeah,” Niall says quietly and shifts. Zayn looks worried and Niall is glad to know that he still cares. “Do you remember Erika from the beginning of the school year?”

Zayn looks puzzled and Niall waits patiently for him to recall the girl whom had been obsessed with him. Until he realizes that Zayn is drawing blank and Niall sighs; one who’d think he’d remember a girl they’d bullied out.

“She’s the girl who took pictures of you.”

“Oh, yeah,” Zayn says and at least he looks a little sheepish. “What about her?”

“Did you know that Chanel and her used to be friends?” Judging by Zayn’s surprised expression, he didn’t. “Yeah. Me neither. Apparently she’s waging a revenge on us—specifically me—and Chanel was here to break us up and she drugged you. Louis had nothing to do with it.”

Niall isn’t delusional enough to think that their break-up was Erika and Chanel’s fault. They had put it to a test, one they’d failed miserably after realizing how little they trusted each other.

Zayn doesn’t say anything for a long moment and just sit there, processing the information. Then he rubs his temple and looks at Niall with weary eyes. “How do you know all of this?”

“I tracked down Chanel—with Stacy’s help—and she confessed to everything.”

Zayn lets out a heavy breath. “Wow,” he says softly.

Niall nods. “…I know you’re mad at Louis and me, but I hope that we can…come together again. You’re still a big part of my life, Zayn. And I know we’ve hurt each other, but I still care about you.”

Zayn lowers his eyes and pulls at a tiny hole in his jeans, and Niall figures he’ll give him time to figure all this out. 

“So yeah…please think about it?” 

With that, he turns on his heels and leaves.

_###_

 

When Niall returns to Privilege, those in the house that haven’t gone somewhere for the weekend are gathered in the common room. Niall stands in the door as his gaze flitters over his fellow dorm mates, there’s Harry and a group who are involved in an intense guessing game, laughing and shouting over each other, a few are in front of the screens, playing a race game, others a flirting carefreely in the corner. Niall’s gaze finally lands on Louis who’s talking to Liam on the couch in the corner, and Niall wonders if Liam has told Louis about their talk. 

Louis looks up as if he can feel Niall’s eyes on him. As their eyes meet, Niall feels incredibly guilty for freezing Louis out for the last week without any explanation and he gives him a tiny smile before he turns and walks further into the house.

Louis comes out after him and Niall waits for him in the corridor.

“Hey,” Louis says, studying him. “Where were you? I called you and you weren’t taking your pho—“

Before Louis can finish his sentence, Niall cuts him off by coming forward and taking his gorgeous face in his hands, kissing him deeply on the lips, trying to convey everything he wants to say _’I’m sorry’_ and _’I missed you’_.

Louis quickly catches on and reels Niall into his body by his waist, taking control of the kiss and Niall can feel the _’It’s ok’, ‘I missed you too’_ in it. Niall melts into him, fingers finding their way around the back of his neck and in his feathery soft hair. Once they part, they rest their foreheads together and this is what Niall wants, to feel this close to Louis.

He pulls back to look properly at Louis.

“What would you say if I told you I know who’s been stalking me?”

For once, Louis looks surprised and his gaze flitters over Niall’s face. Then he smirks.

“I’d say let’s get the bitch.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THERE IT IS!
> 
> I don't think it was a big twist as some of you people had already guessed it, but I hope it wasn't too disappointing. But tell me anything you didn't like or something you thought I could do better. I'm open for all constructive criticism as I strive to be better.
> 
> Tell me your favorite part of this chapter?
> 
> Oh! And who caught the GG reference? ;)
> 
> You can look forward to the 'Erika takedown' in the next chapter that goes horribly wrong!


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> an early chapter to all you lovely readers! x
> 
> this series is coming to an end and I can't wait to finish it!

CHAPTER 20

It’s in the middle of the night, sometime around an _ungodly_ hour when Niall is woken up by someone gently shaking his shoulder. He grumbles and tries to move away from the disturbance, until his mostly asleep, paranoid brain catches up and his eyes flies open, fully expecting Erika standing over him with a manic grin and a butcher knife, but all he’s met with is Harry’s face inches from his.

“Niall? Niall are you awake?” he whispers, his hot breath fanning over Niall’s face. Niall blinks at him.

“What are you doing, Harry?”

“Um…I had a nightmare,” he says and from the sound of his voice, Niall knows he is embarrassed.

“What?” Niall rubs the sleeps out of his eyes. He doesn’t understand why Harry came all the way down to his room, but then he realizes this isn’t his room. He’s in Louis’ bed and Louis is curled in the far corner of the bed, soundly asleep. “…you can sleep here, if you want?”

Judging by how fast Harry crawls into the bed and squeezes himself in the tiny space between Louis and Niall, that’s exactly what he wanted. Harry wriggles and squirms until he’s comfortable; meanwhile, Niall is dangerously close to falling off the bed.

“Alright?” he asks with a soft laugh.

“Yeah,” Harry grins, pleased. “Alright.”

It’s absolutely endearing that Harry sneaks into bed with others when he’s had a nightmare like a toddler. Niall has a feeling he does this often and he’s surprised that Louis puts up with it. But then again, Louis lets Harry get away with a lot. Niall doesn’t blame him; Harry can be irresistible.

“Good. Go back to sleep.”

After an awkward morning with bodies tangled and inappropriate morning woods—and Harry’s ever-present dirty jokes, that doesn’t feel much like jokes anymore—the trio make their way to breakfast.

Niall is nothing less than thrilled when Zayn doesn’t pass their table but heads directly towards them and the girl who’d taken her seat hastily returns it to its rightful owner. Zayn slides into his seat and Niall is grinning like an idiot.

“Hey!” he greets cheerfully.

Zayn smiles, “Morning.” He turns his gaze on Louis and the two of them exchange measured looks before Louis cracks a smirk and Niall lets out a breath of relief.

“Welcome back, Prince,” he says teasingly.

Zayn merely scoffs and while he looks at Louis with cool eyes, clearly still on the fence with him this is a _huge_ improvement.

And Niall feel so goddamn _happy_. All is right in the world again and he imagines a near future where they all go back to being close friends again.

“I assume you’ve heard about Erika,” Zayn says nonchalantly to Louis. “What’s our plans for her?”

Louis cocks a brow. “Ours?” He repeats with an amused smile.

Zayn smirks. “You know your most successful take-downs has been with my help.”

Niall had not predicted this turn of events. He imagines that Zayn and Louis had done this a million times before, sat down together and plotted the downfall of whatever unfortunate person that pissed them off. Of course it’d be _Zayn_ being Louis’ partner in crime and not Harry or Liam.

“Wait guys,” Niall says before Louis can reply. “We’re _not_ taking anyone down. We’re just going to ask her to stop terrorizing us.”

Zayn and Louis looks at him incredulously then they exchange a look and scoffs simultaneously. 

Niall glares at them, offended. “What?”

“She fucked with us,” Louis says. “Nobody gets away with that.”

“Louis, we’re _not_ going to do anything other than let her know that we knows she’s the one who’s been taking pictures of us and ask her to stop, alright?” Niall says firmly. “You already threw her out of the school and I don’t blame her for being angry. She didn’t deserve that.”

Louis rolls his eyes. “Oh, but she’ll deserve what I do to her now.”

“Louis,” Niall says through gritted teeth. He should’ve known that telling Louis might not be the best idea, but he’d had some kind of delusion that Louis would for once listen to him.

“We’ll talk about this later, alright?”

 

They will. Niall is determined to keep everything under control. _His_ control.

 

_###_

“All we’re going to do is ask her to stop. That’s _it_. Nothing less and certainly nothing more.”

Niall brings up the Erika situation as soon as they’re done with their classes and are cuddled together on Niall’s bed, pretending to study.

“She terrorized you, stalked you, took pictures of you _sleeping_. And you want to play nice?”

Niall cranes his neck to look up at Louis’ displeased face. “ _Yes_ , Louis,” He says. “ Fighting fire with fire isn’t going to solve anything, alright? We do this my way or no way at all.”

Louis snorts. “Yeah…she took pictures of me too so I think I have a say in this as well.”

Niall pulls back to glare at Louis. “Louis…Louis… _please_ ,” he begs, hoping to make this boy see reason. “…just listen to me for once.”

Louis stares at him for a few moments, then he sighs and rolls his eyes. “If it’s what you want—“

“It is.”

“As you wish, Princess,” Louis says and presses a quick kiss into Niall’s lips. And maybe Niall is imagining the slight mockery underneath his words. He has a feeling it can’t be this easy. 

“Thanks,” he says, eyeing Louis suspiciously.

“You’re welcome,” he says with a smirk. Before Niall can say more, there’s a knock on the door.

“Finally,” Louis says and detangles himself from Niall, walking up to the door. Niall watches curiously as he swings it open to reveal a tiny boy with helmet-cut hair that Niall vaguely recognizes seeing around school.

The boy hands Louis a long, brown envelope without a word and Louis gives him a grin. “Thanks.” The boy nods, his facial expression remaining the same—bored—before he leaves.

Niall stares. “What the fuck was that?” He asks, eyeing the envelope as Louis closes the door and walks back to the bed. The bed dips under Louis’ weight as he sits down, “ _This_ my dear,” he says slowly as he rips the envelope open, “Is my next week’s chemistry test.” He extracts a few papers that indeed looks like test papers.

It takes a second longer for Niall to process that Louis somehow has access to all the school tests. “Louis…what the fuck?” he exclaims finally. “Seriously?”

Louis doesn’t even look up, his gaze sliding over the papers. “Hmm?”

“That’s…that’s _cheating_!” Niall exclaims scandalized and he doesn’t know why he feels so offended. Actually, he does. He uses hours and sleepless nights and sweat and tears studying for his tests and exams and here is this rich motherfucker who has the answers beforehand.

Why is life so unfair?

As if reading his mind, Louis looks up at him. “I can get you whatever test you want, you know,” he says easily. “You just have to ask.”

The temptation is nearly overwhelming. “No,” Niall says loudly. “I want to work hard for my success…unlike others that constantly gets it handed to them.”

Louis looks at him. “You’re adorable,” He says and strokes Niall’s cheek. “But one day you’ll realize that the world doesn’t work the way you think it does. It’s all dirty and grim, Princess.”

Niall rolls his eyes and swats his hand away.

_###_

Niall actually manages to focus on what _matters_ , his school-work, for a few days at least. Until a text comes beeps into his phone and that makes him question everything he decided. 

_’break up with louis or I’ll send the pic to the school board’_

Erika is actually threatening him and here Niall has gone out of his way to make sure Louis doesn’t fuck her up. She really does hate him and for a moment, Niall wonders if he should just let Louis at her. But only for a moment.

_She’s angry_. He reminds himself. She’s angry and she’s lashing out.

He just needs to talk to her, possibly apologize and she’ll see reason; he’s positive. When he tells Louis about the text, his eyes flashes and he looks angry and it takes a half hour to convince him not to go for her throat.

Once he’s calmed Louis down, he notices the pair of tuxes hanging from his closet and he points towards them, quizzically.

Louis follows his gaze and smirks. He walks up and pulls out on the tuxedos, throwing it into Niall’s arms. “We’re crashing a wedding,” he says with a mischievous grin.

Niall blinks at him, wide-eyed. “Wh—what?”

“Our little stalker’s uncle is getting married tonight, so what better time to confront her?” Louis says. “The sooner the better. Before she sends you back to your depressing little town with that picture she has.”

“What—really? Her uncle’s wedding? Louis, we shouldn’t do that!”

Louis’ eyes clouded over with impatience. “I’m tired listening to what we should and shouldn’t do from you,” he says. “We’re doing this. Tonight. Feel free to stay behind.”

Niall knows a determined Louis when he sees one, but it doesn’t stop him from protesting. He doesn’t get far, before the door is thrown open and Harry bounces inside, closely followed by Zayn.

“I’m coming with you!” He announces with a large grin.

“What?” Niall asks, blinking stupidly at him.

“I want to come,” Harry says easily and flops down on the bed. “I don’t have anything else to do tonight and I love weddings!”

Niall gives Zayn a bit of a look and Zayn shrugs. “He wouldn’t stop asking me to watch House Wives with him and I had to give him a legit excuse. I didn’t think he’d want to come.” Then Niall realizes that Zayn and Louis had already planned this without including him. He glares at Louis who pointedly ignores him.

“He’s is right here!” Harry announces and raises his hand. “And I’m coming!”

“We’ve heard you the first time, Harold,” Louis says dryly. “And fine. Why not?”

Niall presses the groan on the tip of his tongue against the roof his mouth. He has a strong feeling this can only end badly as it always does lately.

_###_

 

They leave later the same evening and pile into the back of Louis’ chauffeured car. And as they squeeze into the back and Harry pulls out a flask, it almost feels like the good ol’ days; alright, maybe there’s never been any ‘good ol days’, but there’s definitely been _better_ days. And that’s what this reminds Niall off.

Tonight, they’ll make Erika see reason and make her stop her revengeful ways, and they can all once again go back to stalker-free days and being friends again. Niall absolutely can’t wait.

“So, what exactly are we going to do?” Harry asks with wide grin, liquor shining on his red lips.

Niall doesn’t miss the way Louis and Zayn exchange a quick look. “First, we’re going to talk to her,” Louis says and grabs the flask from Harry, pocketing it and ignoring Harry’s indignant whine. “And then…you’re going to leave the rest to me.”

Niall stares at Louis, dreadfully. “And what exactly does that mean?”

Louis turns to look at him. Then he drapes an arm around his shoulder and pokes his nose. “It means that you’re going to leave it to me, alright?”

Niall wriggles his nose like a bunny and looks suspiciously at Louis. “Yeah. Sure.” He is doing anything _but_ leave it to Louis.

“It’s so nice that we’re all friends again!” Harry chirps with a happy smile and throws his arms around Zayn. “We’re _unbeatable_ when we’re together, yeah? We should’ve brought Liam as well!”

Niall thought the same. Liam would maybe back him up if need be.

“He’s writing a Biology paper,” Zayn says and allows Harry to cuddle and nuzzle into him; even gives him a small scalp scratch that makes Harry purr like a kitten.

“Hey! Selfie!” Harry exclaims enthusiastically and ignores their groans, forcing them to huddle together. They all smile for the camera and Harry snaps the picture. “Look at us! We so pretty!”

They laugh and settle back. “I think you’re prettiest,” Louis whispers into Niall’s ear, “The prettiest princess,” and Niall bites down a giggle, cheeks pinking a bit. Then Louis slips his fingers behind Niall’s back, under his shirt and Niall jumps a little startled when he feels Louis’ ice-cold fingertips against his skin. Louis’ fingers draw a random pattern and Niall glances at Zayn. He hopes he doesn’t notice, because Niall knows that he wouldn’t enjoy watching Zayn and Perrie together. But Zayn seems preoccupied pretending to listen to Harry prattle about some crazy fan.

Niall looks at Louis and Louis looks at him briefly. And there’s this look in his eyes, it’s quick, but it sends a rush of warmth throughout Niall’s body—a look that he knows is only meant for him—and then it’s over before Niall even has a chance to bask in it. But Louis’ fingers are still there, cold against his warm skin and Niall knows he didn’t just imagine _that look_.

He’s overcome with the urge to kiss Louis until neither of them can breathe, but not here. After tonight, they’ll go back home—yes, Prescott and Privilege House feels like _home_ — and Louis is going to let Niall kiss him into oblivion.

The rest of the car ride goes with easy chatter and with Louis constantly giving Niall small, reassuring touches—those, Niall are more than alright with—and Niall feels so _at ease_ for once in a damn long time. Finally the car comes to a halt outside as they reach their destination and they all peek out of the windows. The building a little away is large and packed, music and chatter pouring out of its open doors.

“No doorman,” Louis scoffs as he climbs out of the car. “Too easy.”

The other follow him out and he turn to look at them. “We are here on a mission which means _no_ venturing to the bar,” Louis says this with a strict look at Harry who pouts. “Try not to look suspicious. We’re going upstairs where there’ll likely be less people and you Zayn—“

“I’m going to lure her up there,” Zayn interrupts Louis. “Easy.”

“And then we’re going to _talk_ to her,” Niall says strictly and looks at the others with a look that dare them to oppose him. They don’t, but Louis doesn’t look like he’s going to listen.

“Let’s go,” Louis says. Zayn and Harry ventures towards the entrance and when Niall goes to follow them, he’s stopped by a hand on his wrist. He looks at Louis, puzzled.

He’s about to ask what the matter is, but then he sees the way Louis is _looking_ at him, all soft eyes and he looks directly into Niall’s eyes and it suddenly feels like nothing else in the world matters, but this moment. It makes Niall melt, it makes him go weak in the knees.

Louis steps closer. “After tonight, all of this is going to be over,” He says quietly and strokes Niall’s cheek. “And you can put this behind you. Check it off your list of crazy things you’ve experienced,” he says with a wry smile and it makes Niall laugh softly.

Niall lowers his eyes, suddenly feeling shy. “Yeah.”

He leans down and gives Niall kiss that he can feel all the way down to his toes. When they pull away, they rest their foreheads together, their breath mingling and it’s only for a second, but it’s enough for Niall.

He _knows_ how he feels about this boy and it’s as scaring as it is exhilarating. 

Louis gives him a smile as if he knows and squeezes his hand. “Let’s do it.”

Niall nods and smiles back. 

One thing is for sure, Erika’s family and the one her uncle married into knows how to do is _party_. The atmosphere is festive and bubbly, there’s older people breaking some serious moves on the dancing floor, and someone is doing tricks by the bar. Louis holds Niall’s hands and maneuvers them through the people and Niall tries to act as natural as he can, but nobody even spare them a glance. They find Harry who’s trying to chat up a lady at least twice his age and they have to drag him away.

Upstairs, as Louis had predicted, is less populated than downstairs and they find a private alcove. Here, they wait for Zayn to bring an unsuspecting Erika and Niall feels restless with nerves. They only have to wait a few minutes before Zayn joins them.

“Where is she?” Niall asks, looking behind Zayn for any sight of her.

“She saw me and looked surprised as hell. She’ll follow, I’m sure,” Zayn said confidently. 

He is right. A couple of minutes later a tiny girl comes into their view. She hasn’t caught sight of them yet, but they can see her perfectly well. Niall stares at the girl who looks world different from what he remembers. He remembers a small girl with large glasses and unruly, curly hair that hid half of her face and a bad posture. She looks like Cinderella after a magical touch from the Fairy Godmother. Her hair has been dyed blonde—it makes Niall a bit uncomfortable—and set up prettily, her glasses are gone and her posture is straight and confident. The only thing that is the same is the camera hanging from her neck.

There’s no doubt that wherever Erika Hoffman went after Prescott has been a lot better to her. Harry even whistles lowly behind him and it’s enough to catch Erika’s attention. She comes forward, squinting into the half-dark alcove.

“Zayn?”

Then she sees them and the color drains from her face. Her wide-eyed, deer-caught-in-the-headlight expression reminds Niall of how she’d looked when he’d approached her all those months ago, bearing bad news. The memory makes his stomach hurt.

Erika’s mouth falls open and her bottom lip quivers slightly as her gaze flickers over them.

“Erika,” Niall says as softly as he can as to not spook her. 

Louis steps forward, “It’s been a long time hasn’t it?” He says and Erika stares at him with the fear painted into her features. “And my…time has certainly treated you well.”

“W-What are you doing here!?” Erika exclaims, blinking wide-eyed at them. She looks like she might bolt any second. Niall is about to speak, but Louis does before he can.

“Let’s not play dumb, Erika,” Louis says, voice patronizing. “I think you know exactly why we’re here.”

Erika doesn’t say anything. Just stares at him, her fingers clutching her camera.

 

“You’ve been a very bad girl, lately, haven’t ya?” Louis says with scolding ‘tsk-tsk’ sounds.

Erika shakes her head, a loose curl escaping her hair-do and falling over her face. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Louis tilts his face a little and raises a brow. “You really want me to say it out loud?”

When Erika remains silent and still, Louis lets out a dramatic sigh. “Fine. You’ve been stalking and taking pictures of us.”

The accusation makes Erika’s mouth fall open. “What? No! I don’t know what you’re talking about! Leave me alone! You don’t have any power over me anymore and I refuse to let you bully me again!” The words pour from her in a nervous babble and she doesn’t sound convincing.

Louis looks skeptically at her. “Really, now? Alright. Why don’t you let me take a look at your little camera there? And we’ll see who’s speaking the truth.”

Erika clutches the camera harder, her knuckles white around them as she takes a step back. “…Leave me alone!”

Niall feels so bad for her and he stops Louis before he can talk. “Erika,” he says gently. “We know it was you…Chanel told us that you were the one behind Zayn’s drugging.” Erika looks shocked at that. “…why did you do that? I didn’t…I’m sorry for what I did but I don’t think I deserved—“

“You deserved it!” Erika suddenly snaps, her face reddening. “You all deserved it!” She points at all of them before she turns her glare on Niall. “You became one of them!”

They all stare at her. Zayn makes a disgruntled noise behind Niall and Niall thinks he is about to say something, but then Erika just explodes in anger and resentment.

“You think you’re so high and mighty picking on those who are weaker than you! Never suffering any consequences for ruining others’ lives! And you do it for what? For fun! You leave innocent people’s lives in shambles to have a good laugh! And then you go about your own without any other thought to those whom you’ve hurt! You deserved it! Someone had to give you a taste of your own medicine!”

Once she’s done, she’s breathing heavily, her cheeks stained red and her eyes dark with hatred for them. They’re all stunned to silence and while Niall hasn’t been a part of throwing people out of school, he still feels deeply guilty.

“…Are you quite done?” Louis speaks up after a moment, sounding deeply unimpressed by Erika’s outburst.

Niall shoots Louis a sharp look, “Louis,” he admonishes. 

Much to Niall’s chagrin, Louis ignores him. “Now my dear. If you think I ruined your life before, it will be nothing compared to what I’ll do to it now.” Everyone in the room knows that, that threat is real.

”Louis!” Niall snaps. “Stop!

Louis looks at him as if it’s Niall who’s done something wrong. Niall takes a deep breath and turns his gaze on Erika who looks shocked and terrified by Louis.

“Erika, I understand your anger. I understand why you’re doing this and I’m so sorry for the way that we hurt you,” Niall says, the sincerity bleeding into his words. “But I have to ask you to stop. What you’re doing won’t solve anything. Only make it worse.”

“You deserve it,” Erika says, voice shaking slightly.

Louis lets out an impatient sigh. “Alright. That’s it. Give me that damn camera.” Louis takes a threatening step towards Erika and Erika does what any threatened prey would do. She flees.

“Erika!” Niall sets after her. “Wait!”

Niall is rather impressed with how fast Erika is and in damn _heels_ as well. She is lightning on her feet as she zips down the hallway, heading for the stairs that leads outside. Niall is right behind her.

“Erika!”

He catches up to her just as she begins to descend the stairs and he reaches for her. His fingertips grazes her and she shrieks, violently jerking away. The sudden movement causes her to lose balance and then, Niall feels like everything slows down. He watches as Erika grapples for the banister, watches how she can’t quite get her fingers around it, watches the look of shock and fear on her face the moment she realizes she is going to fall. 

“No!” Niall shouts and tries to reach her, catch her but it is too late. Her tiny body tumbles down the long flight of stairs and Niall’s heart beats manically in synch with every thud of her body hitting against the raise and fall of the stairs, her head tosses around like a single grape in a shaken bowl. The fall seems to take forever, but then she finally hits the landing with a loud thump and there’s a distant sound of bones breaking; a sound that will doubtlessly follow Niall to his grave.

He stands there and stares down at Erika that looks folded and broken like a piece of origami. He stares down shell-shocked and waits for her to get up and dust herself off. But she remains still, too still. Before Niall’s terrified brain can process what that even means, the others catch up to him.

“Niall?” He feels Louis comes up behind him, hears the hitch in his breath when he sees Erika and the way his body tenses.

Someone behind him lets out a loud gasp. Harry. “Oh my God, Oh my God,” he whispers panicky, “Is she...is she…why isn’t she moving?!”

He can make out Zayn’s heavy breath, “…Shit,” he mutters.

“Let’s go,” Louis says, voice strained and begins to pull in Niall. Niall feels suspended in space, like he’s looking down on all of this unfolding and he can’t feel anything at all. He’s in shock. “Niall! Come on!” Louis forcefully tugs Niall away from the stairs.

“We can’t just leave her like that!” Harry exclaims. His skin is paper-white, his bright pink, quivering lips stark contrast. “She might be…she might…”

“We were never here,” Louis says stonily and tucks Niall under his arms, leading him away.

“Louis!” Harry whines. Zayn takes his hand and pulls him along.

They sneak out of the party and it all feels like a blur to Niall as his mind desperately tries to block out what just happened, what he just did, to spare him. As they get in the car and drive away, Niall stares out of the window and he can see himself in the dark window. He looks haunted.

He can vaguely make out Harry crying and Zayn trying to make him stop. Next to Niall, Louis is trying to get his attention.

“Niall? Niall, talk to me. You’re scaring me.”

And it hits Niall.

They just killed a girl.

He just killed a girl.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>   
> _GASP!!_
> 
> What just happened?
> 
> How will the boys cope?


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for all the comments and kudos. I haven't gotten around to reply to them but know they were appreciated ! x
> 
> I haven't proofread this thing so i hope it isn't too terribly .
> 
> enjoy :)

Chapter 21

 _Shutting down_.

Niall has never considered what that might imply, what that meant. He’d never had to. But as he sits there in the car with the others and feels completely removed from his own body and feelings and thoughts, like he just _can’t_ connect to them, he discovers that maybe _this_ is what it means.

To stare blankly at Harry crying his eyes out and gasping for breath as he begs for Louis to at least call an ambulance. 

“What if someone can still save her but they don’t find her before it’s too late!?” He cries, snot running down his nose. He looks absolutely torn. 

Zayn looks torn as well as he tries fruitlessly to console Harry, but he looks like he needs consoling himself. His usually golden skin is ashen and his leg is bouncing nervously. They’re both staring at Louis.

Louis’ face is tight and drawn and he’s holding Niall against him, but Niall doesn’t really feel much of anything. “It wasn’t our fault,” he repeats and looks over the shocked and terrified boys, gaze resting on Niall. But Niall is just staring out of the window. “She tripped and fell. It was an _accident_. Alright? We didn’t _do_ anything wrong.”

“Then why did we run!” Harry cries distraught and lets out an ugly, wet sob. “Why did we run, Louis! Why!?”

Zayn rubs Harry’s shoulders and shushes him gently as he tries to calm him down. Zayn hasn’t voiced any opinion on what they should’ve done, but it looks like he agreed with Louis even though he looks conflicted by the choice.

“This isn’t alright, this isn’t alright,” Harry says through wheezing gasps and wracked sobs and he looks like he’s about to hyperventilate. “We just…we just…we just…” He’s unable to finish the sentence.

“…killed her.”

Niall doesn’t even realize that the emotionless, robotic voice belongs to him until everyone is staring at him. Louis’ hold on him tightens and it hurts but Niall barely registers it. Zayn is staring at him with worried eyes.

“Niall, are you—“

“Oh my God, Oh my God, I need air! I need air!” Harry chokes out and reaches for the car door. 

“Harry!” Louis snaps sharply and stops him before he can open the door of a moving car. Zayn slides the divider that’s separating them from the driver open and requests he pulls up.

As soon as the car slows down, Harry leaps out of it and Zayn crawls out after him, presumably to make sure he doesn’t hurt himself. Niall hears Harry gagging outside and then the distinct sound of hurling. 

Louis mutters something under his breath that Niall doesn’t quite catch. Then Louis turns to him, grabbing his face between his hands and forces Niall to face him. He studies him with a frown and gently strokes his cheek while Niall stares back blankly.

“Niall, we didn’t do it,” He says quietly, looking hard into his eyes as if the harder he looks, the more Niall would believe him. “It was an accident, alright? We didn’t kill her.”

 _yes, we did_. Niall is as sure of that as the fact that the sun rises in the east and sets in the wets. As sure of that as he is of the fact that his life is never going to be the same again. He doesn’t say any of that though and that seems to unsettle Louis.

“It’s going to be alright,” Louis says and kisses him softly. He pulls him into his body and holds him tight. “Everything will be alright. I promise.”

 _Lie. Lie. Lie._ Niall feels so exhausted, like he’s climbed a mountain. He pulls away and rests his face against the cold window. He closes his eyes and feels the weight of Louis’ worried eyes on him.

Zayn and Harry returns to the car and Zayn finds Harry a water bottle that he gulps down. He then proceeds to collapse against Zayn, whimpering pitifully.

Louis reaches out and takes Niall’s hand, squeezing it. He leans across the car and whispers something to Harry but all he gets is a wet sniffle as reply.

The rest of the way home goes in gloom silence, occasionally broken by Harry sniffling. Niall realizes that he fell asleep for a few minutes when Louis gently shakes him awake to tell him that they’re back at school.

They silently shuffles to their dorm and head straight to their rooms. 

“Hey,” Louis stops Zayn just as he’s about to go to his own floor. Zayn stops up and looks at Louis. “You can stay in our room if you want.”

Zayn seems to consider the offer and he glances at Niall for a moment. “No—“ he begins to decline, but before he can continue, Harry grabs at his sleeve and looks at him with wide eyes. “Please?”

Zayn easily give in—anyone would to a look like that—and he smiles gently at Harry. “Ok.”

Niall automatically heads for his own room but Louis grabs him, stopping him. “Niall, where are you going?” they’re all staring at him, the way they’d been staring at him since they got in the car, like they aren’t sure how to handle him.

“No. I want my own bed,” Niall says in that new monotone voice he’d acquired. He tugs his arm out of Louis’ grip. “I*m fine.”

“Niall,” Louis says, voice strained and he reaches for Niall again.

“I’m _fine_.” Niall ducks away and hurries to his room. But of course, Louis doesn’t give up so easily and he comes after him, catching up to him by the door. 

“I’m not going to leave you alone tonight,” he says with a look that dares Niall to oppose him. Niall is so exhausted and so numb that he doesn’t even have the energy to fight him. He just lets out a deep sigh and let Louis follow him into his room.

They silently move about as to not wake a snoring Conrad and strips down to their boxers. They crawl into the bed and Louis crawls up behind him. But the minute he puts his arms around Niall, Niall freezes and he just wants to be _alone_. Louis quickly retracts his hand and Niall can feel his eyes burn into the back of his neck.

“Niall?”

Niall squeezes his eyes shut and curls away from Louis. To his relief, Louis doesn’t try to touch or talk to him, just lies silently behind him, close enough that Niall can hear him breathing. Niall relaxes and a merciful darkness sweeps him away within minutes.

 

_###_

 

When Niall wakes up in the morning, everything feels unfamiliar to him, the bed, the room, _Louis_. He feels like this isn’t his own body, even when he walks into the bathroom and stares at his reflection, he can’t recognize the pale, blue-eyed boy in the mirror.

When Louis asks him how he’s feeling, he wants to say _numb_ , but he just mutters ‘I’m alright’. He ignores the worried looks that Louis constantly throws his way, doesn’t even registers them most of the time. He goes through his morning routine, feeling like a robot and when Louis leans in to kiss him, he tilts his face away automatically.

“Sorry,” he mutters and avoids Louis’ eyes.

In the dining hall, Niall slides into his seat with his breakfast and he notices Harry’s absence from the table, though he quickly pushes it from his mind. He sees Zayn and Louis whispering together in the corner, Louis frowning and Zayn glancing at him. A few minutes later Louis leans into him, his hand on Niall’s thigh and Niall’s first reaction is to shake him off but he gets a grip on himself.

“I have to go check on Harry,” He tells him quietly. “He didn’t sleep well last night.”

Niall just nods and Louis stares at him for a few moments longer as if he’s expecting more. Then he lets out a small sigh and gets to his feet, leaving the dinning hall.

He looks up to see Zayn studying him and when their eyes meet Zayn smiles cautiously. “Hey,” he says and there’s dark rings under his eyes. “How are you?”

Niall isn’t sure how to reply to a question like that, because he doesn’t _know_ how he feels other than he feels like a part of him isn’t working. “I’m alright.”

Zayn gives him a tiny, sympathetic smile as he hears what Niall’s thinking and not what he’s saying. He reaches across the table and puts his hand on top of Niall’s, stroking it gently. Niall doesn’t’ know how to feel or react to that, so he just stares. 

“I’m here.” Is all Zayn says.

For the rest of the day, Niall lets his classes and homework and assignments consume him completely, subconsciously avoiding having any time to think of anything other than his grades. But he avoids any and every stairs as much as he can, but there are times he doesn’t have any other choice. Whenever that happens, his stomach curls into a tight knot and he feels a sharp, bitter taste at the back of his mouth. A feeling he tries to drown out by reciting the periodic table in his mind.

He doesn’t see Harry all day, but he keeps pushing it away. Louis is there though, studying and watching Niall like a hawk. He runs into Liam in between classes and the other boy immediately pulls him aside.

“Hey, do you know what’s wrong with everyone today?” He asks with a frown. “Louis and Zayn are acting strange and I haven’t seen Harry all day! When I asked Louis if he was sick or something, he told me yes, but when I said I’d drop by his room after classes, he said that it was best that I didn’t. I feel like there’s something wrong but I’m the only one who’s out of the loop.”

Liam looks mighty confused as he stares at Niall, waiting for answers. Niall swallows a little bit and shrugs, averting his gaze.

“I don’t know,” he mutters and before Liam can say more, he pushes past him with a quick excuse.

Later the same night, Niall is sitting by his desk and writing a paper that isn’t due for another week under the soft light of his desk lamp. On the other side of the room, Conrad is sleeping, his snoring providing a somewhat comforting and familiar background sound.

He hears the door open and he looks over his shoulder as Louis enters the room.

“Hey,” Louis says as he closes the door behind him.

“Hey,” Niall echoes and turns his gaze back on his computer, trying to keep his focus on what he’d been writing but Louis quietly making his way up behind him is distracting. Louis grabs the back of his chair and leans over his shoulder, peeking at the screen.

“You’re working on a history paper?”

“Yes,” Niall replies and stares at the blinking cursor.

Louis hums behind and there’s a few moments of silence where Niall remembers what he’d been writing and continues to work on it, ignoring the scent of Louis’ cologne in his nose.

“Can you pause for a minute or two?” Louis asks and Niall’s fingers stop momentarily but then he continues as if Louis hadn’t said a thing.

“Niall.”

“I have to be done with this,” he says. “I really don’t have time right now.” He sounds colder and rejecting than he intended,

“No,” Louis says so sharply that Niall stops and looks up at Louis who’s glaring at him with a clenched jaw. “We need to talk _now_.”

Despite Niall’s protests, Louis wheels him away from the desk and spins the chair, so he’s forced to face Louis. Louis puts his hands on the armrests and bends down so he can stare properly into Niall’s eyes.

“Talk to me,” he demands.

Niall blinks. “What?”

“You’ve been acting like this _all day_ ,” Louis says and gestures frustrated around the room. “I thought that you needed time to process everything that happened, but that’s clearly not what you’re doing. It’s like…it’s like you’re just _shutting_ it all out and that’s not healthy. So _talk_ to me.”

Niall keeps his gaze lowered, staring at his fingers twisting in his lap. “I don’t want to talk,” he says quietly. He just want to be left alone. Is that too much to ask?

“Niall,” Louis says in a strained voice. “Harry has been doing nothing but crying under his blanket all freaking day. This has really fucked him up and he has an interview and performance on National Television in a few days. But of course you don’t know that because you haven’t bothered to ask or go see him!”

Niall breathes deeply that feeling of sickness in his throat and lead in his stomach flooding back. “I don’t know what you want me to say.”

“I want you to talk to me, goddmanit!” Louis snaps. He straightens up and takes a deep breath, dragging a hand down his face. “Niall,” he says softer this time. “You’re not alone in this and we need to talk about it. That’s the only way we can work through it, ok?”

“Just leave me alone!” Niall snaps harshly. “That’s all I need you to do, alright? Leave me the fuck alone for once! I don’t want to talk about it! You can’t force me if I don’t want to!”

Niall is breathing heavily after that outburst and stares at Louis. Louis stares back with a pinched expression and stormy eyes. He shakes his head and mutters something under his breath before he spins on his heels and leaves.

Niall stares after him, chest heavy for an entire different reason now but before feelings can overwhelm him, he turns his focus back on his paper.

_###_

The next day goes much the same and Niall doesn’t see Harry or Louis at all. He doesn’t see Zayn either and Liam tells him that Zayn has been spending worryingly much time in the art cemetery when he tries to pry him for information again.

Later after classes, Niall returns to Privilege House and he’s waiting for the elevator when he hears muffled crying from the back. Niall knows that he should just get on the elevator and start on the Chem quiz for tomorrow, but he also knows that crying sound far too well. He stands there conflicted for a moment until he can’t resist walking into the back and as he suspected, he finds Harry and Louis in the backroom.

Harry is sitting curled on up on the end of a sofa and he looks like an absolute wreck with matted hair and puffy eyes, pulling on the string of his hoodie. Louis is sitting right next to him and is saying something to him in hushed voices that Niall can’t make it.

Harry lets out a small gasp and bites into his lip, shaking his head. “I can’t do it. I can’t do this, Louis-I—I _can’t_.” He hides his face behind his trembling hand on Louis reaches out and puts a hand on his thigh. He looks torn and frustrated and at a loss for what to do. Niall has never seen Louis look like that before; he always looks cool and collected.

The scene is heartbreaking and Niall feels a little sick. Before he can leave unnoticed, Louis looks up and sees him.

“Niall?”

Harry looks up at the mentioning of his name and Niall freezes to the spot. He is in the middle of figuring out a way to disappear when Harry’s eyes turn dark and startles Niall.

“What is _wrong_ with you?” He snaps. Niall blinks and stares at him, bewildered. Harry only seems to get more upset by Niall’s expression. “How can you act like that!?” He accuses and gestures towards Niall, “How can you act like nothing happened? Like we didn’t do something horrible?”

Louis grips Harry’s thigh harder, “Harry. Stop.”

But Harry doesn’t stop. “What even happened Niall?” He says, the distress painted in his face. “Did you push her?”

Harry’s words goes strikes Niall straight in the stomach like a steel punch, knocking the wind out of him. He grabs the wall to steady himself and stares at Harry, shocked.

“Harry!” Louis snaps loudly, sharply and Harry startles. He only then seems to realize what he’d said and his eyes turns huge in his face. He looks absolutely mortified and his lips shake as he says, “N-Niall, I didn’t mean that!”

 

But he _does_. Niall knows. Even if Harry doesn’t believe that Niall pushed her, he believes that it’s all Niall’s fault. And it is. 

He turns on his heels and runs, ignoring the calls of his name he leaves in his wake.

He finds himself at the Art Cemetery, breathless and side stinging after running across campus like someone was chasing him. He stands in the door for a few moments, trying to catch his breath, trying to catch himself from tipping into insanity. Before he can change his mind, he pushes the door open and stumbles inside.

Zayn looks a little startled to see him. He’s wearing his dorky, thick-framed glasses and a colorful bandana around his neck; the stains of paint on his old jumper completes his artsy look. 

“Hi,” He says and looks a little concerned. Niall knows he probably looks a little crazy and it’s obvious he’d run over, his hair windblown and cheeks stained red.

“Hi,” Niall says, a little rasp in his voice and he doesn’t know what he’s doing here. All he knows is that he feels like he’s about to lose his fucking mind.

Zayn comes up to him, carefully approaching him like he’s a scared animal that might bolt at any second. Zayn’s eyes looks somewhat bigger under the glasses and he looks older with eyes tainted black with secrets and purple bags from sleepless nights.

“What is it?” Zayn asks, studying him intently and Niall wonders if he can see everything inside of him falling apart, piece by piece. 

Niall shakes his head and lowers his gaze, staring at his shoes, his breath a little shaky. There is a moment of silence where Zayn stares at Niall and Niall stares at his shoes.

Then Zayn without a word turns on his heels and Niall looks up, following him with his gaze. Zayn uncovers a white canvas and brings it up against the only piece of wall that isn’t lined with paintings. He opens three jars of paint and then he turns to look at Niall.

Niall just stares back at him, confused. He slowly walks up to him and when he is next to Zayn, the boy takes a brush and dips it into the blue paint.

“This…helps me sometimes when I need to escape from my thoughts...” He says quietly and then he flings the paint on the canvas, half of it hitting the stony wall behind. He turns to Niall and hands him the brush. “Try.”

Niall looks down at the brush, uncertain, but Zayn looks at him encouragingly, so he takes it. He stands with it, still puzzled as to how this is going to help even a little, but then Zayn slides behind him and closes a loose, slightly calloused hand around his wrist.

“Just focus all your negative emotions and pretend that you’re letting them out when you fling the brush,” Zayn says, voice soft and soothing. He helps Niall fling the paint onto the canvas and Niall stares at it dripping down the white surface.

Zayn moves away and takes his own brush, dipping it into the green jar and flings it onto the canvas. He looks at Niall and Niall doesn’t need further prompting, he clutches his brush and just goes _crazy_ with it; as he and Zayn throws paint on the canvas in one giant mess of colors, he imagines that it’s all the anger and desperation and guilt he’s feeling and he actually feels a little better.

By the time they’re done, there’s paint everywhere and Niall is panting lightly. He flings the brush against the canvas one last time before he leans back against the cold wall. He looks at Zayn, who’s looking back at him and Niall actually smiles when he sees the streaks of paint that had gotten into Zayn’s dark hair.

Zayn smiles back and falls against the space next to him. As he does, their arms touch and their fingers brush, all sticky and wet with paint. Niall takes a deep inhale through his nose and with it comes the scent of Zayn—a mixture of paint and his cologne and cinnamon—familiar and comforting and Niall closes his eyes.

When he opens them again, Zayn is standing directly in front of him, _so close_ , Niall’s breath hitches in his throat. He stares at Zayn who stares right back at him, and Niall can make out each, ridiculously long and inky lash.

He doesn’t know what is happening and he doesn’t dare to move. Zayn brings his hand up to Niall’s face and touches his cheekbone with his fingertips, the touch cool and wet. He lets his fingers trail down, stopping at the corner of Niall’s mouth. Zayn looks at him and his eyes softens and Niall’s heart leaps when he recognizes that look; Zayn hasn’t looked at him like that for ages and Niall’s mouth feels sandpaper dry. 

Niall knows Zayn is going to kiss him before he does it, he can see it in his eyes yet he can’t move away. Niall takes a shaky breath as Zayn leans in and takes his lips in his and his eyes falls shut.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This ends a little abruptly? I couldn't find a proper way to end the chapter :/
> 
> leave kudos and comments if you'd like! love to hear feedback.
> 
> tell me what you think of the ziall and nouis and larry and everything!
> 
> And for the love of God, don't ask me to update or when I'm updating, it stresses me out--it'll be a lot more helpful if you pointed out something you liked/disliked. Trust me. Thank you.


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi you lovely people! I have a new chapter for you! Thank you for the comments and the kudos and the support. It means loads. I can't wait to finish this story <3
> 
> I hope the spelling errors arent too outrageous. Enjoy! x

Chapter 22

Niall knows Zayn is going to kiss him before he does it, he can see it in his eyes yet he can’t move away. Niall takes a shaky breath as Zayn leans in and takes his lips in his and his eyes falls shut.

Zayn kisses him once and Niall feels something inside of him break. When Zayn cradles his face, Niall has to turn his face away, his heart heavy in his chest. He closes his eyes and shakes his head,

“Zayn…Zayn we can’t,” he says shakily and opens his eyes to look at Zayn. “It wasn’t…it wasn’t her fault that we broke up—“

“It was _us_ ,” Zayn interrupts and he lets his hand fall from Niall’s face. He lets out a sigh. “I know…we aren’t good together.” He looks up at Niall with a somewhat sad smile. “I shouldn’t have done that.”

Something inside of Niall comes undone and he lets out a broken breath. “Zayn…is she?” he takes a deep breath and more or less chokes out, “is she _dead_?”

Zayn’s face falls and Niall sees the answers in his face. “Oh God,” he whispers, all the guilt he’d been holding at bay washing over him in tides and he collapses. “Oh _God_.” The tears are rolling hotly down his cheeks before he even hits the ground.

Zayn gets down with him, looking at him with wide and sad eyes. “They ruled it an accident,” he says, voice a bit hoarse. He looks away and clears his throat, clenching his eyes shut for a moment. When he looks back, he looks just as broken about it as Niall feels.

“What have we done, Zayn,” Niall warbles and lets out a sob that shakes his body. “What have we done?”

They’d taken a girl’s life. A young, bright girl who had the whole world ahead of her. First they’d ruined her future and then they’d completely taken it away. Brought grief and shock upon families that had come together to celebrate something beautiful. Erika didn’t deserve to be dead and cold just as Josh hadn’t deserved it or Jordan for that matter; three young lives taken before it had really begun. They should be _here_ , young and carefree and flirting. But they were dead. All because of them in one way or another. All because of the ‘golden boys’ of Prescott Academy; all they did was wreak havoc and chaos and _death_.

Niall doesn’t think he’ll ever go a day without this hanging over him and he doesn’t deserve less. He deserves those deaths hanging on him and following him like shadows.

Zayn doesn’t say anything, maybe because he doesn’t know what to say and merrily folds his arms around Niall as Niall’s body is wrecked with sobs. He doesn’t know for how long he cries until he runs out of tears and he’s just kind of shaking in Zayn’s arms.

He pulls away eventually exhausted in every way possible and Zayn looks equally exhausted. Niall appreciates that he doesn’t try to make it seem better, that he doesn’t tell him it was an accident, because they all know that’s fucking a lie they’re telling themselves. 

Without a word, they make their way back to Privilege House. Niall is staring at the pavement in front of him, so Zayn sees them first.

“Where is he going?”

Niall looks up and sees a car pulled up in front of Privilege House. Harry and Louis are there was well, illuminated by the car lights and they pull away from a hug. Niall watches as Harry gets into the car. His stomach drops to his toes when he realizes what might be happening.

“Harry? Harry!” He shouts panicky and before he knows of it, he’s running. But it’s too late. The car races away before Niall even has a chance to come close. Niall stares after it, blood rushing in his ears until he can’t see it anymore, then he turns to stare at Louis.

“Where is he going?” He asks breathlessly. Louis eyes glides over him, obviously wondering why Niall is covered in paint and glances at Zayn behind him. “Louis! Where the fuck did he go!?” Niall screams, at the end of his robe. He can’t take much more.

“Niall, calm down,” Louis says and walks up to him, putting his hands on his shoulders. Niall pushes him away.

“No! Don’t you tell me to calm down, Louis! Just tell me where the hell he went?”

Louis stares at him. “He needed a break,” he says eventually.

Niall doesn’t understand what that entails, “Where did he go?”

“Home.”

Niall blinks. Harry can’t just choose to go home when the finals are looming in the horizon. He can’t choose to just run away and leave them to soak all this shit up on their own until they’re stinking of it. 

“What…when is he coming back?” He asks, feeling queasy.

Louis pulls his bottom lip into his mouth and glances over his shoulder at Zayn. 

“Louis,” Niall prompts, dread curling in his stomach. He has a very bad feeling about this.

“I don’t know, Niall,” Louis says, but he’s lying; he knows and Harry isn’t coming back.

“Did you send him away?” He snarls at Louis, glaring at him accusingly. Louis looks taken aback and he narrows his eyes at him.

“What?”

“Was he too much work, Louis? So you sent him away?” Somewhere in the back of his mind, Niall is well aware that he sounds mentally unstable and maybe he just _is_ ; he feels like his brain is imploding on itself.

“Niall,” Zayn says behind him and maybe he’s asking him to stop, but it’s too late to hit the breaks now. He’s going to crash and burn, he knows.

Louis looks angry. “What the fuck are you on about? It was _his_ choice!”

“Just like it was Erika’s choice to end up death?”

Louis stares at him. “What are you trying to say?” he asks quietly, eyes dark.

Niall should stop himself. He should stop himself but he can’t. He feels like he’s in a free fall, unable to slow down or stop before he hits the ground with a bloody splash.

“This is all your fault, Louis,” he spits.

Louis has an expression like Niall might’ve slapped him and he can feel Zayn shifting uncomfortably behind him.

Louis looks down and takes a deep breath, fingers clenching and unclenching. He looks back up at Niall, features smoothed out, “You aren’t thinking clearly right now.”

Before Niall can reply to that, the doors into Privilege House opens and Liam walks out, staring at them. They all fall silent and stares back at him.

“Guys,” he says, uneasily, looking around at them, “You’ve got to tell me what the fuck is going on?”

Niall feels simultaneously bad and envious for Liam; he’s fucking _lucky_ that he isn’t involved in this shit. He just shakes his head and brushes passed Liam, storming into the dorm.

“Niall!” Louis shouts after him.

“Leave me alone!” Niall snaps back 

But of course Louis doesn’t leave him alone. He follows him down the hall and towards his room. “Go away!” Niall shouts, uncaring of who might hear them and attempt to slam the door in Louis’ face, but Louis easily pushes it open.

“This is all your fault!” He cries. “If you hadn’t booted her out of school for one stupid reason all of this would _never_ have happened! Do you even realize that!?”

He shoves Louis hard in the chest and Louis stumbles back without a fight. He looks at Niall with something like desperation in his eyes, “Niall, just stop for a minute—”

“No!” Niall pushes Louis again, “No! You ruin lives, Louis! You’ve ruined _mine_! I didn’t sign up for this! I didn’t leave my shitty life for this! I didn’t work my ass of to get into this school for _this_! I never wanted this! But you were the one who pulled me into all of this on my first fucking day!”

When Niall is done with his rant, his chest is heaving with heavy breaths and glaring daggers at Louis. Louis, who for once in his life actually looks _guilty_ and so unlike him, he looks away from Niall’s burning gaze.

“I’m sorry,” he says and raises his gaze to Niall, “You’re right. I pulled you into all of this. But I swear, I never intended for all of this to happen. You have to know that.”

Niall is so tired of hearing that and he lets out a hopeless sigh, shaking his head. “Why are you even like this?” He asked and gestured at Louis. “What made you this way? Is it because your parents never loved you?”

For a split-second, Niall swears there’s hurt— _genuine hurt_ — on Louis’ face but when Niall blinks it’s gone and Louis is staring at him with a tightly clenched jaw and smoldering eyes.

“Don’t talk about thing you know nothing about,” He says through gritted teeth.

Niall knows he’s taking it too far, but he can’t stop himself. When Louis makes no move to talk, Niall shakes his head and grabs for his phone in his pocket.

“I’m going to call the police and tell them what happened,” he says, fingers shaking as he begins to enter the number of the local police station.

“What! No!” Louis exclaims and jumps forward as he tries to wrench the phone out of Niall’s grab. Niall turns away and fights him off, “Fuck off! I can’t live with this like you! I’m not like _you_!”

Louis wrestles him for the phone and Niall fruitlessly tries to push him away. “You’re not thinking straight! I’m not going to let you do this!” In the grabble, the phone ends up on the floor and they both dive for it. In the struggle that ensues, Louis manages to pin Niall down and swat the phone out of his reach.

“Why do you _care_!” Niall cries with frustrated tears in his eyes as he tries to kick Louis off of him.

“Because I _love_ you!”

Niall stops struggling at once, going completely still under him at those words and he stares up at Louis, shocked. Louis is heaving for breath, his usually immaculate hair ruffled, cheeks stained red in agitation. 

Niall doesn’t think he heard the words he thought he heard and just as he’s about to believe that it was something he’d imagined, he sees the realization dawn in Louis as if he’s just realizing what he’d said. His grip on Niall loosens a bit, but Niall makes no move to use it to his advantage and move out from under Louis.

There goes a beat of tense silence, then Niall breathes a shocked, “What?”

Louis takes a deep breath and closes his eyes and when he opens them, he looks composed. He looks down at Niall and his face soften considerably,

You're a fucking idiot, you know that?" He says and by his tone, it doesn't feel like an insult. "If I didn't care about you, I wouldn't be here right now."

 

Niall mind races and he feels feverish, like he’s burning up from the inside out. He hides his face behind his hand and let out a shaky breath, “This is too much,” he whispers, tears spilling down. He’s been on a constant roller coaster of emotions, unable to get off and this can’t in any way be healthy for his mental health. “Too much,” he repeated, swallowing down the sob caught in his throat.

“Shhh,” Louis shushes him gently, pulling Niall back up against his chest, holding him tight. “I’ve got you, baby, I’ve got you, ok?” He kisses his hair. “You’re going to get through this. I promise you.”

Niall shakes his head, “No, no, I feel like I’m losing my mind.”

“I won’t let you,” Louis says firmly. “I’ll be your sanity.”

Niall sniffles wetly, "She didn't deserve it," he moans.

"She didn't."

"Her family—"

"I know."

"How am I going to live with this?"

"It'll get easier, you'll see."

Niall twists his hand in the back of Louis' shirt and buries his face in the crook of Louis' neck. His snot and tears spilling all over Louis' tanned skin and Louis doesn't protest, just lets him. He holds him for some time, before he pulls back and studies his face closely. He strokes his wet cheeks with the tip of his fingers and looks into his eyes.

"Does a warm bath sounds good?" 

Niall is exhausted so he just nods. Louis smiled and presses a lingering kiss between his brows. "Be right back." He disappears into the bathroom and Niall stares at the wall for the few minutes he's away. Once he returns, he takes Niall's hand and helps him to his feet, leading him into the bathroom. He helps Niall out of his clothes like he's a child, but Niall doesn't mind; he kind of needs to be babied.

When he sinks into the tub, he lets out a long sigh, the warm water a relief against his stiff and tense body. He reaches for Louis where he stands by the edge and urges him to join him in the water. Louis doesn't hesitate and gets out of his clothes, slipping in behind Niall and pulling the blonde between his legs, up against his chest. Niall leans into him and closes his eyes.

They stay like that, silent, for a while; it's peaceful and it's nice.

"How do you do it?" Niall asks, opening his eyes.

"Hmm?" Louis hums questioningly as he places tiny, feather-soft kisses across Niall's freckled shoulder.

"How doesn't all of this affect you?"

Louis lifts his face. "It does. I am just better at dealing with it," Louis says casually. "And someone has to keep the lot of you together."

He's right. Niall doesn't know what they'd have done if Louis wasn't there. They need someone to keep them from falling completely apart.

"Please tell me Harry's coming back," he pleads softly. He can't imagine that Harry would up and leave without a goodbye or an assurance that he'd be back.

Louis stays silent for a couple of moments. "I honestly don't know."

Niall exhales a shuddery breath and doesn't say more.

Eventually, Louis has to persuade him to get up before he gets pink and prudy; Niall reluctantly agrees. Louis dries them both off with fluffy towels and they cuddle up in bed. Niall settles in and rest his cheeks against Louis' shoulder, his hand against his chest; he can feel Louis' heart beat under his palm, strong and steady.

Louis cards his fingers through Niall's hair, over and over and it's soothing; Niall quickly feels sleep sweep him away.

_###_

 

Niall is on his way out of the dinning hall the next morning--time used to stare at his breakfast rather than eating it-- with Louis by his side when Stacy approaches him.

"Horan. I need to talk to you," she says urgently.

"He doesn't have time," Louis says and takes Niall's wrist, pulling him along.

"It's about Erika."

That stops them both up and Niall feels his heart skip a bit behind his ribs. He slowly turns around and stares at Stacy; he suddenly realizes that Stacy had known about Erika--the only one other than them--and by the look of Stacy's face, she knew Erika was death. Niall gulps.

"What about her?"

Stacy stares at them piercingly and she looks slighty scry with her hair pulled up in a tight ponytail and her make-up unusually dark. She stares at them like she knows they're hiding something and Niall can feel his hands get clammy.

"Go to class," Louis says to him quietly. "I'll take care of this, ok?"

Niall turns his gaze on him. "How?" He asks uneasily. Louis squuezes his wrist lightly, "Just go."

Niall isn't sure if he wants to leave Stacy and Louis alone, but he sure as hell doesn't want to speak to Stacy; he'd break down and spill the beans, he knows. Louis knows too which is properly why he's doing this. Niall slowly backs away and nods at Louis, glances quickly at Stacy before he turns and escapes.

Niall is completely unable to concentrate on anything in his classes and everything that had felt swimming through clear water, felt like trudgning through sticky, thick mud. He can't understand anything the teachers say, no matter how much he concentrates on it and it leaves him in a state of utter _irritation_.

By the time his classes are done, he feels like crawling out of his own skin or better, burying deep under his blankets and ignore the assignments he don't have the energy to do. He meets Liam and Zayn outside the class building and it's beautiful spring day, the sun shinning down on them merrily.

One look at Liam's face and Niall can tell Zayn has told him everything.

"Hey."

They fall in step on either side of him and really, all he wants to do right now is be left alone but he doesn't want to be rude. 

"Zayn told me everything," Liam says somewhat gravelly and Niall glances at him.

He sighs deeply, "I can tell."

"Niall...that's...that's seriously messed up."

"Don't you think I know?" Niall snaps irritated. 

Liam looks sheepish. "Um..sorry," he mutters, "Do you know when Harry's coming back?"

Niall doesn't want to be irritated with Liam, but right now, he's asking all the wrong questions. Zayn seems to sense that Niall has a hard time keeping himself from snapping again, because he says, "Soon. He probably just needs a break."

"Zayn, the finals are in a few weeks," Liam reasonably voices what Niall is thinking.

Zayn shrugs. "He'll come back," he says so confidently that Niall has to look at him.

"How do you know?"

"I just know," Zayn replies with a smile.

Niall sighs. He hates those three words more than anything, but he's too damn exhausted to even inquire Zayn further. 

"You guys, I have a headache, I'll just go to my room," He tells them and before they can say anything back, he makes a swift escape.

He meets Louis by the doors into Privilege House. "What does she knows?" He asks anxiously as Louis pulls him close, curling his hand by his hip.

"I told her everything," Louis says so noncholantly that Niall doesn't process it quick enough. When he does, he comes to an halt and stares incredolously at Louis.

"Wh-What?"

Louis is forced to stop up as well and he turns to look at Niall. "She already knew that you were confronting Erika and then Erika dies. She already knew we had something to do with it. I had to tell her what happened before she began digging around and coming to her own conclusions."

It sounds somewhat reasonable, but it doesnt stop Niall's stomach from aching at the fact that Stacy knows. 

"What if she tells?" He asks breathlessly.

"She won't," Louis says firmly and looks at Niall. "Trust me."

Niall sags a little with a tired sigh. Stacy has wanted to take down Privilege House for some time and now she has the perfect weapon; Niall doesn't understand how Louis can be so calm about it, but Niall doesn't have extra energy to worry about that. If the cops come then he'd gladly hold out his hands so they can handcuff him and throw him in jail; he deserves it.

"You didn't eat anything this morning," Louis says as they walk into the foyer of Privilege House. "Let's go to the cafë and get something."

Niall doesn't think he can handle more staring and whispering today. "I'm not hungry."

"Yes, you are," Louis argues. "You haven't eaten anything. Come on, it's a beautiful day, we can eat outside under the sun." He attempts to steer him back outside, but Niall doesn't budge.

"No," he says more firmly. "I just want to take a nap."

Louis studies him. "Niall--"

"You can go if you want. I'll be ok." He turns on his heels and waits for the lift to whisk him to his room. Louis follows him closely behind and when Niall crawls into bed, Louis crawls up behind him. They automatically shift and turn so they're laying more comfortably and snug against each other. 

Louis draws patterns on Niall's skin under his shirt and Niall falls asleep almost instantly.

 

When Niall wakes up, he has a headache and body feels like lead; he's somehow more exhausted than he was when he went to sleep. It's Louis that wakes him up to a plate full of food that should've Niall salivating, but he can't find his appetite for the life of him.

"I'm not hungry," he grunts and turns on his other side, away from Louis and his food.

"Baby," Louis says, crawling onto the bed behind him, "You need to eat something. Come on." He kisses the back of Niall's neck and Niall squirms away. "I'm not hungry," he repeats.

"Just try, Princess," Louis says eerily patient, "Come on."

Niall does it mostly so Louis can leave him alone: He takes two tiny bites and then he thinks about how Erika will never be able to enjoy another meal because she's rotting six feet under where worms are feasting on her decaying body; then he gets an image in his head of that and tastes bile in his mouth. He rushes to the toilet and his kneecaps slam against the floor as he hugs the toilet, throwing his guts out

Louis is there the next second, rubbing his back soothingly and Niall doesn't want him to be there and see this; it's gross and it smells and he just wants to be alone.

When he's finally done, throat hurting and mouth sour, Louis pushes a tall glass of water into his hand. Niall takes it and gulps the water down. He gets onto his legs and they feel like overcooked spaghetti underneath him as he stumbles to the sink and washes the foul taste out of his mouth.

"Come on," Louis says and gently guides his back to the bed. Niall curls up in it and gasps softly,

"She's dead."

Louis rubs his shoulder. "It was an accident."

"She's still _dead_! I killed her."

"You didn't kill her. You didn't push her."

"It was because of _me_."

"It wasn't on purpose."

Niall is lying there, shaking when he remembers that he needs to work on his Biology paper that's due two days. He gets onto his feet and mumbles, "I have homework," staggering up to his desk and opening his laptop. Louis stays on his bed, watching him while Niall opens a blank Word document and writes the title. Then he stares at the blinking cursor for some time, before he tries to begin the sentence only to delete it four words in and he stares some more. 

He usually doesn't have any problems starting a paper, but right now, he can't find the right words for the life of him. It frustrates the living daylight out of him and after ten minutes of just staring at the screen, he loses it a bit. He slams the lid of the computer closed violently.

"You can come back to it later," Louis says and rises from the bed, coming up behind him and putting his hands on his shoulders. Niall shakes him off and crawls back onto the bed. There's a headache throbbing along his temple and he feels eerily void inside.

"Niall, why don't we go for a walk before dinner? It might help clear your head," Louis suggests as he perches on the edge of the bed. Niall glances out of the window; it still looks sunny outside.

He suddenly finds himself thinking of his parents. He hasn't called them for a week or so now.

"I want to call my parents," he tells Louis. "Is it ok if I just meet up with you at dinner?"

He can feel Louis' gaze heavy on his back for a few moments, then the bed creaks under Louis as he rises. "Ok. If I don't see you there, I _will_ come and drag you out."

Once he leaves, Niall lies there for about fifteen minutes more before his thoughts gets unbearable and he finds his phone. His mother takes it on the second ring.

"Niall! I was just talking to your father about you!" She says and she sounds so happy and cheery it cuts through Niall. He suddenly misses her terribly and he just wants to sink into her arms and smell home and love there.

"Hi mom," he says and winces at the slight croak to his voice. "How are you and dad?"

"We've never been better, sweetheart, I was in the grocery the other day and Mrs. Henry was asking about you." Mrs. Henry is an elder lady that Niall used to help around the house and she'd feed him cookies and milk. Niall doesn't think it was possible but he might have felt a sting of nostalgia. "Anyways, it's boring here without you and your brother. Tell me all about you! How is school going? And Louis?"

Niall's throat closes up and he wants to cry and tell his mother what a horrible son she has. "Everything is alright. We're preparing for the finals and uhm, everything is good with Louis."

"You must bring him for the summer break. Your grandparents will be here and they’d be thrilled to be meet him!”

“Sure, mom,” Niall says with a smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes. That will only happen if Niall doesn’t end up losing his mind before the finals even arrive. 

He talks a little more with her and then with his father until he can’t keep up the ‘everything is dandy’ parade any longer and he hangs up with a quick excuse of homework.

Then he sits there and thinks about how he’ll ever be able to face his parents with what he have done. Eventually, he forces himself to get to his feet and he feels like a shower would be ideal but he simply can’t find the energy. He throws on a hoodie and makes his way to the dinner hall, knowing that Louis will make true of his words.

He slips into his usual seat next to Louis and across from Zayn and he’s hyper-aware that they stop talking the minute they notice him. They’d obviously been talking about him, properly discussing what to do with him. 

When Niall glances up, Zayn catches his eyes and smiles brightly at him as if the brighter he smiles, it’ll lift Niall’s mood as well.

“Hey.”

“Hey,” Niall mutters back and half-heartedly pokes on the potatoes on his dinner plate. 

“It’s my birthday soon.”

Niall gaze snaps up and he stares at Zayn surprised before he can stop himself. He feels embarrassed that he’d forgotten about Zayn’s birthday--but given the events that had transpired lately, maybe he wasn’t to blame--but Zayn doesn’t look the slightest bit bothered.

“Yeah, that’s true.”

“He’s joining the adults’ ranks soon,” Louis smirks. “We’ll throw the biggest fucking bash for our pretty prince here.”

Zayn rolls his eyes but looks pleased nonetheless. “There’s the ‘informal’ party and of course, the ’formal’ my parents will throw for me.”

“What’s the difference?” Niall asks, trying to get excited about this. Damnit, he _should_ be excited about this, but he simply _can’t_.

“The difference is that one is fun and one isn’t,” Louis replies with a sharkish grin. “Their majesties wouldn’t approve of their precious little prince getting drunk and high off his ass, now would they, Zayn?”

“Now, what they don’t know won’t hurt them,” Zayn says with a shrug.

“Amen,” Louis grins.

Niall feels a bit wrong discussing birthday bashes when there’s a dead girl on their hands; a girl who’ll never get the chance to be 18, who’ll never get the chance to graduate and go to college and get married and get kids. Niall suddenly feels like throwing up.

“Hey, Ni, you look a bit green,” Liam points out as he joins them on the table and Louis turns to him with a worried frown.

“Alrihgt?” He asks, a hand on Niall’s back.

Niall gulps down the bile in his throat and tries to get himself together. He can keep it cool like Zayn and Louis. He has to. “I’m ok.”

He does manage to not throw up on his dinner, though he can’t get down more than a few bites and Louis won’t stop worrying about it no matter how many times Niall tells him he’s _fine_.

When they’re in bed together later and Conrad is snoring in his bed, Louis leans in and kisses him and Niall is by now able to categorize Louis’ kisses and this is a _’let’s make out kiss’_ which usually leads to _’let’s fuck’_ kisses. 

Niall is concerned when he feels exhausted by the mere thought and feels himself pulling away from Louis’ mouth and Louis’ hands.

“I’m tired,” he says, throat tight and closes his eyes so he doesn’t have to see the expression on Louis’ face. Louis doesn’t say anything and just cuddles up to Niall, fitting their bodies together perfectly and Niall wants to cry.

“I’m here,” Louis whispers against the skin of his neck and places a kiss there that feels like a promise. Niall feels the tears sting in his eyes and he grabs Louis’ hand, squeezing in a silent thank you.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” he blurts, a single tear falling down. Louis holds him tighter and shushes him.

“There’s nothing wrong with you, Princess,” he assures, “You’re fucking perfect.”

Niall smiles and while he doesn’t believe Louis, it still makes him feel better.

 

_###_

 

The next couple of days goes on in much the same fashion and Niall feels like he’s slowly unraveling. Louis is there, a constant and pillar, and Niall has never been more grateful for another human being in his life. 

 

He hands in a sub-par biology paper that he cringes thinking about and he knows he’ll be lucky if he gets a C. He doesn’t know what to do to snap out of it, he feels like he’s drifting through a thick, dark fog or like he’s drowning in the ocean and the only thing keeping him from hitting rock bottom is Louis.

 

During those days, Niall tries to contact Harry several times but is constantly met with his voice mail; for every time that happens, Niall’s stomach drops further down his chest. Nothing is the same without Harry and Niall misses him more than he thought he would. But most of all, he feels betrayed by him. If Harry knows a place that’ll take the pain and guilt away, he’s a selfish jackass for not taking Niall with him. When Niall asks Louis, he tells him that Harry is home with his parents in LA and to give him time.

One morning, Niall is woken up by Louis before the sun even rises and he blinks groggily at him. “Lou?” He mumbles, rubbing his eyes, “What are you doing?” He asks when he notices that it’s six in the freaking morning, a good couple of hours before he has to be up.

“Come, get up and get dressed,” Louis says and flings the covers off of Niall. Niall hisses slightly at the cold air.

“Louis, stop, it’s not funny,” he groans and tries futilely to grab his blanket.

“Then it’s good I’m not joking,” Louis says and grabs Niall’s arm, “Get _up_.”

“Why?” Niall asks irritated and sluggish sits up. “What are we doing?”

“You’ll see,” Louis answers cryptically and forcefully pulls him up. “Come on. Get dressed!”

Niall curses up a shitstorm under his breath as he grudgingly begins to talk on random articles of clothes. He blinks grumpily at Louis.

“Aw, you’re cute,” Louis coos and kisses his lips, taking his hand.

“Where are we going?” Niall asks tiredly as he allows Louis to drag him out and down the silent, deserted hall.

“We’re going on a little trip, my dear,” Louis says with a smile and there’s that twinkle in his eyes that he gets when he’s up to something. Niall squints suspiciously at him.

“At this hour?” He says. “And _where_?”

“It’s a surprise,” Louis grins and Niall shivers slightly when the cold, early morning air meets him outside. “Don’t you love surprises?”

“Not lately, no,” Niall replies flatly as Louis leads him around the dorm and towards the parking lot. “Especially not from you.”

“Aw, don’t say that,” Louis says and pinches Niall in the side. Niall squeals in surprise and blushes before whacking Louis’ arm. “Don’t do that!”

Louis chuckles and walks up to a slick, silver car--damn these kids and their ridiculously expensive cars--he opens the passenger door for Niall and smirks at him. “Get in.”

 

Niall hesitates and stares at Louis. “I don’t like this.”

Louis rolls his eyes. “You will. Now, don’t force me to kidnap you.”

Niall purses his lips and slowly gets into the car, sinking into the expensive leather seats. Louis gets in as well, “Just trust me, Princess,” he says as he pulls out of the parking lot. Niall sighs deeply and rests his face against the window, watching the scenario run by.

They drive for a couple of hours and it gets warmer and Louis rolls down the top of the car. Niall turns to look at him and the wind is playing with his hair and when he turns and looks at him, the sunlight hits his face in a certain way and he looks fucking _beautiful_.

Louis smiles at him and Niall’s heart that had felt a little dead lately, leaps alive in his chest and he smiles back. The moment is ruined however when Louis has to break his foot down on the brakes because he almost ran the red light while he’d been busy looking at Niall. Louis looks absolutely startled.

For some reason, Niall feels himself laughing. Genuine, heartfelt laughter from the stomach and it feels absolutely _wonderful_. Louis looks mildly offended for a moment but then he’s laughing too and Niall wants to freeze in this moment forever.

They stop in some other town, in a random dingy dinner and Niall is surprised Louis doesn’t chose some five-star restaurant. He doesn’t know if he should find it just the slightest bit pretentious. They eat and they talk and they smile and it feels like that he left all his demons at school. But he can feel them lurking somewhere in the back of his head and he’s just grateful to get a slight break from them for a moment.

 

“We’re almost here,” Louis informs and when Niall looks forward. There’s something familiar about the large, imposing buildings in the distance.

“Where are we?” Niall asks as they get closer. Louis doesn’t answer and soon they’re able to spot college-aged kids walking around, talking and laughing and studying and stressing. Niall is absolutely confused for a moment, before it suddenly clicks.

“Oh my God.”

Louis smirks. “Know where we are?”

Niall knows. Of course he fucking knows. He spent the better part of his life staring at catalogues, searching on google and dreaming about this very place.

“Princeton.”

“Yep,” Louis says with a grin. “The one and only.”

The university is just as magnificent, no, even _more so_ in reality than on paper. Niall feels breathless as he stares up at the buildings oozing of pride and prestige and as he looks around at all the lucky kids that got to attend this place.

Niall is however still confused.

“But...what are we doing here?”

Louis manages to find a parking spot. “I just want to remind you that you aren’t staying in Prescott forever,” Louis says and climbs out of the car. Niall follows him and stares up at the buildings, unable to tear his life away. It’s like stepping into a dream. Louis comes to stand next to him.

“In a little over a year, you’ll wash your hands off Prescott and all it’s craps and you’ll come _here_ ,” Louis looks at Niall. “You’ll be able to start your life over again, Niall.”

Niall can’t deny that it breathes _hope_ into him, it also helps to put things in perspective; lately, he’d been drowned in drama and forgotten why he really came to Prescott. He lost sight of what was important.

“Come on, let’s join that tour over there,” Louis says and takes Niall’s hand, leading him over to a small group of hopeful kids and parents. 

“Louis, I don’t know what to say,” He says, still a bit speechless and possibly in a bit of a daze. He feels like a Princess in a castle.

“Don’t say anything,” Louis smiles. 

Niall wants to kiss Louis over and over again and express how much this means to him. But since they’re in public, he settles for a quick cheek kiss and a smile that says more than words.

“You never told where you want to go this fall,” Niall says later when the tour is taking a break and they find a little frozen yoghurt joint. They sit down in the grass and everything feels so good for once.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Louis says and dips his spoon in his oreo and vanilla mix. Niall stares at him shocked.

“What?”

Louis shrugs. “I’m not going to college next year.”

Niall doesn’t think he’s met anyone in Prescott who isn’t planning to go to an Ivy League after they graduate. “What-why?”

Louis looks at him. “Why bother? People go to college so they can work and get jobs and money. But I have enough money, why wait till I grow old to spend it?”

Niall gapes at him. “That’s so...so _unambitious_! And it’s your family’s money, not really yours.”

“There’s enough money for a few generations to live comfortably,” Louis snorts. “Maybe I’ll go to college a few years later or something. Doubt it though.”

“Wow,” Niall says. He’s surprised that his and Louis’ plans for their future is so different. A part of him might have imagined that they’d go to college together.

“This mix taste like crap,” Louis complains, wrinkling his nose. He peers at Niall’s. “Can I taste yours.”

 

Niall smiles. “Sure.” Then he leans in and kisses Louis deeply, slipping his tongue into Louis’ mouth. 

 

_###_

 

“Are we seriously going to a spa, right now?” Niall says skeptically and stares at the building.

“Yes,” Louis says, “You haven’t lived before you’ve been pampered in one. Trust me.”

Niall keeps eyeing the building skeptically. They’re standing by the entrance and Niall isn’t sure why they aren’t walking in. “Um...ok. Shall we walk in?”

Louis glances at his watch and looks around as he’s been doing the last five minutes. “He should be here by now,” he says with a frown and the sentence has barely left his mouth before he sees something over Niall’s shoulder that makes him grin.

The next second, a body slams into Niall’s from behind and he goes down with a cry. The concrete is harsh and forgiving and the weight on top of him is crushing. He gasps after the air knocked out of him and blinks up into a pair of familiar green eyes.

It’s Harry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nourry is my favorite OTP3! (though Zarrial is a close second) What's yours?


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> pure smutty chapter up ahead! :)

chapter 23

After the spa, Niall feels like he’s walking on the fucking clouds. His whole body is so relaxed and light and he wonders if this is how Louis feels on a daily basis. If it is, no wonder that he’s always so on top of everything else; hell, Niall feels like he can conquer the _world_.

After a quick, delicious dinner, they find themselves at a nightclub in the heart of the city. They quickly make their way to the bar and orders drinks that costs way more than they’re worth, but Niall doesn’t care since he isn’t the one paying.

After one too many drinks and they’re all drunk. Niall can’t help but feel that he’s at his happiest when he’s away from Prescott Academy and he reminds himself that before long, it’ll all be over.

“I say we dance!” Harry says with a wide, borderline-manic grin and downs his shot, the alcohol shining bright on his red lips. He grabs Niall’s wrist and Niall is at that point of drunk where he doesn’t even bother fighting against it and goes with it, laughing loudly. He throws a glance back at Louis who’s just watching them from the bar and Niall spots a smirk before he’s swallowed by the crowd.

 

At first, what they’re doing can’t really be considering dancing. They’re flailing and shaking and laughing, knowing they look like proper idiots but having too much fun to care. Then the dancing floor grows more packed, bringing Niall and Harry closer together. Harry’s got this mischievous glint in his eyes and his cheeks are tinged pink from alcohol and exertion. He draws closer to Niall, putting his hands on Niall’s hips and in one tug, brings them flush together.

“Harry,” Niall laughs against Harry’s neck, Harry’s curl tickling his temple. Harry laughs back as he moves his hips against Niall, grinding up against him and Niall moves back against him, trying to coordinate their bodies as well as his intoxicated brain can.

 

Niall glances over his shoulder at the bar and spots Louis where they left him, staring directly at them and even across the room, that gaze feels heavy and makes Niall’s heart beat harder. He feels something soft and moist against his ear and realizes it’s Harry’s mouth,

“Let’s put on a show for him, yeah?” Harry’s voice has that deep, husky quality it gets when he’s horny or trying to seduce someone or both. His breath is thick and warm against the shell of Niall’s ear, and Niall feels warm all over; dick twitching in his pants.

“Harry--” Niall cuts himself off to stifle a moan when Harry slows down from fast and out of rhythm movements to more coordinated, sensually slow thrusts. Niall gasps softly.

“Jesus.” He grabs the back of Harry’s shirt and tries to keep up. He pushes his nose into the crook of Harry’s neck and he smells like fresh sweat and expensive cologne. His pants are growing a bit tighter for every second and it doesn’t get better when he feels the fattening length of Harry’s cock against his thigh.

Judging by how purposefully Harry is grinding against him and the barely concealed sounds he is making, Niall is beginning to think he’s trying to get them both off, right here in the middle of the dance floor.

Somewhere in Niall’s hazy mind, he thinks that this is wrong and he shouldn’t be doing this with Harry even if it’s just for fun or whatever. His eyes seek Louis and he’s worried when he can’t see him where he’d been sitting. 

His attention is immediately turned back to Harry when their clothed, half-hard dicks bumps together; the friction tormentous. 

“Harry, Harry where’s Lou?” He pants but Harry is all too busy grabbing Niall’s bum and bringing him even closer.

It’s just a few seconds later when he feels a body close behind him and hands wrapping around his shoulders. For a moment, he thinks it’s a random stranger who invited himself but then he recognizes the way Louis breathes against his ear.

“You two seems to be having fun without me.” he says, voice low. He kisses the back of Niall’s neck and Niall moans very softly, his dick jumping in his jeans where Harry is grinding mercilessly against him.

“About time you joined,” Harry says with a wide grin, eyes dark under the flashing lights. One of his hands reaches behind Niall and he puts it on Louis’ hip, giving him a quick squeeze.

“Couldn’t let the two of you have all the fun, now could I?” Louis says with a smirk. He nuzzles the back of Niall’s ear and reaches around him, stroking down his belly and grabs his hardened dick without warning making Niall squeak. “You’ve worked him quite into a state, Haz.”

“I’m sure we could take care of it,” Harry says suggestively as his fingers skitters down Niall’s sides, licking across his lips.

Louis’ hands leaves his erection and dips under Niall’s shirt, his fingers icy against Niall’s skin and Niall trembles. “What is going on?” he has half the mind to ask, because this wasn’t playful grinding; it was crossing some boundaries he wasn’t sure he was ready to cross.

“Do you want to kiss Harry, baby?”

Niall eyes widens and he twists his neck to stare at Louis. “W-what? Where did that come--”

“Do you?” Louis asks steadily and Niall looks back at Harry who’s looking back at him, dark intense eyes and pretty red lips. Niall gulps.

“It’s ok. Do it,” Louis urges, “Kiss him.”

Harry’s staring at him, more specifically his lips and he looks so hungry for it. Niall can’t resist so he leans in and Harry meets him half-way; the kiss turns out softer than he expected but only for a few seconds before Harry grabs the back of his neck and Niall twists his fingers in the front of Harry’s shirt. The kiss grows harder and wetter, tongues tangling filthily and Harry moans into his mouth.

They’ve barely parted before Louis leans in over his shoulder and kisses Harry as well while his mouth is still slick from Niall’s. Niall’s watches fascinated and aroused as Louis kisses Harry hard, pulling at his bottom lip till Harry whimpers softly.

Niall leans in and nudges Louis’ chin with his nose, wanting Louis to kiss him as well. Louis pulls back from Harry and smiles indulgently at Niall. He grabs his chin and tilts his face, placing hot, open-mouthed kisses on Niall’s mouth.

Once he pulls away, Niall is panting heavily, every fibre of his body burning and his hard dick threatening to tear right out of his jeans.

Niall still isn’t sure what’s going on, but he likes it.

“Let’s get out of here,” Louis says, voice heavy and Niall and Harry nods simultaneously. Louis smirks and takes Niall’s hand and Niall grabs for Harry’s and together they navigate out of the club.

They stumble drunkenly into a cab and they’ve barely sat down before Harry’s fingers creeps towards Niall’s dick. But before he can do anything, Louis reaches out and swats at Harry’s hand, making the boy pout severely.

“Wait,” Louis says with a laugh, eyes twinkling playfully but despite his words, he puts a hand on Niall’s thigh. His fingers taps a random rhythm against Niall’s thigh and Niall squirms, the confines of his jeans around his dick uncomfortable; and Goddam, he wishes Louis would just touch him already. Even though he knows it wouldn’t be wise to come in his pants in the backseat of a cab, he can’t help but send Louis wide, pleading eyes.

Louis leans in and kisses his cheek. “Patience,” he whispers against Niall’s ear and at this point, Niall knows he’s fucking teasing them; leave it to Louis Tomlinson to find the most inappropriate times to satisfy his slightly sadistic needs.

They finally arrive at the hotel--at the back entrance to avoid any potential Harry Styles’ stans-- and as they tumble into their shared hotel room, Niall stops up in a moment of uncertainty in his drunken haze of lust. Harry on the other hand, is anything but uncertain, he falls onto the bed and pulls off his clothes until he’s left in nothing but his little black briefs.

He stares at them with hooded eyes, “Come on, I’ve been waiting _forever_ for this,” he says and sounds equally horny and anxious; as if he’s afraid they might change their minds and leave him hanging.

Lous comes up behind Niall, putting his hands on his hips. “Shall we give him what he’s waited for, for so long?” He asks, squeezing his hips lightly and when Niall doesn’t answer, still suspended in a moment of hesitation, he spins him around so he can look at him. “I’ll take care of you. _We’ll_ take care of you, baby.” He leans in and kisses him slow and sweetly.

“Guys,” Harry whines impatiently and when Niall looks over he’s got his cock out, stroking it. Niall swallows the sudden onslaught of saliva in his mouth and the sight of Harry’s cock brings him back to their hook-up at the legacy last year; an event that seems farther away than it actually is.

“Impatient,” Louis mutters with a light chuckle and gives Niall a small, encouraging push forward. Niall doesn’t need much more encouraging. He charges right for Harry, toppling him back on the bed and kisses him deeply, replacing Harry’s hand on his dick with his own.

Harry seems to love it. He moans filthily into Niall’s mouth and pulls him close by his neck as he kisses back hungrily. Harry pushes his hand under his shirt and scratches up Niall’s belly, bringing the shirt up and Niall pulls away for the couple of seconds it takes him to take of his shirt and fling it carelessly at the floor.

 

He’s so consumed by Harry that he doesn’t hear Louis come up behind him before he feels fingers curl under the waistband of his jeans. Louis reaches around and zips down his pants and he pulls them down along with his briefs and Niall has to jostle about so he can get them fully off.

Niall stops up kissing Harry noisily when Louis splays his icy fingers over Niall’s ass. “Oh fuck, this is really happening,” Harry says underneath him, awed and a bit incredulous. Niall can’t help but laugh at Harry’s expression and pushes his fingers through the boy’s curls fondly.

The next second, Louis topples Niall off of Harry and onto his back. Louis swoops down and kisses Harry, “Don’t you dare come before I say you can,” he says with a smirk and gives the base of Harry’s cock a squeeze. Harry hiss softly and Louis moves off of him in favor of crawling between Niall’s thighs.

He smiles down at him. “Hey.”

Niall grins back, mostly because he’s drunk and Louis looks good. “You’ve got too much clothes on,” he says and reaches for Louis’ pants but Louis pushes his hand away. “Don’t worry about it.”

Niall frowns confused but before he can think more of it, Louis kisses a wet trail down his neck, to his chest and belly until he finally presses a kiss against his hole and Niall throws his head back with a soft whine; every patch of kissed and unkissed skin burning up.

Louis pushes his wicked, wet tongue deep inside of Niall without warning and Niall lets out a startled moan. Harry is there the next second to swallow his moan with his mouth and his fingers feels up Niall’s chest, playing with his nipples until Niall is afraid he might come. 

With Harry and Louis on him, it gets him worked into a horny frenzy but not a hand on his cock to make him come drives him mad. When he reaches down, Harry grabs his wrist and gives him a small admonishing look that quickly dissolves into a grin.

“You don’t want to come yet,” he says with a wicked grin.

Louis emerges from Niall’s thighs and smacks Harry’s bum hard, causing the boy to yelp startled. “Go get the lube, pop boy,” he orders and Harry doesn’t have to hear that twice. He leaps off the bed and roots through his bag and unsurprisingly retrieves a bottle of lube. It registers in Niall’s mind that he’d been hoping for this to happen and again, he isn’t surprised.

Harry crawls back on the bed and gives the lube to Louis. Louis takes it and kisses Harry deeply. He pulls back and coats his fingers in the sticky substance, he leans down and kisses Niall while his fingers finds their way to his hole.

He pulls back and spreads Niall wide, watching as he fucks him open with his fingers, steadily adding more. He looks at Harry with a raised brow,

“Don’t just sit there and stare,Harold,” he says. “I’m sure Niall would like to suck you off, right, baby?”

In response, Niall lets his mouth fall open and tilts his face towards Harry’s crotch. Harry curses under his breath and shuffles over till he’s close enough to slip his cock into Niall’s mouth. Niall sucks it into his mouth, earning a throaty groan from Harry.

“Oh fuck,” Harry breathes, stroking his fingers through Niall’s hair, down his face and presses a thumb against the obscene bulge in Niall’s cheek. “You look so good right now, you have no idea.”

Louis curls his fingers and knocks against Niall’s spot. Niall is unable to concentrate on Harry’s cock and he throws his head back with a soft gasp. Harry’s cock slips from his mouth, leaving a smear of precum across his cheek.

Louis leans in and licks it off and Niall trembles under him. He smirks at the devastated sound Niall makes when his fingers leave him and he turns to Harry.

“Do you want to fuck him?” He asks, rubbing up the soft white inside of Niall’s thighs. “He’s all open and ready.”

“Oh, fuck yes,” Harry snarls and reaches for the lube but Louis gets there first. He uncaps the bottle and slicks Harry’s cock up, giving him a few firm strokes that has Harry trembling. Niall watches with dazed and lustful eyes.

Louis begins to get off from him and as Harry makes to take his place, Louis stops him. “Wait,” he says and then grabs Niall’s arms and pulls him on his knees. 

“You want Harry’s cock, Princess?” He asks against his mouth, nibbling at his bottom lip. Niall whines and nods eagerly, unashamed. 

“I’m here to serve!” Harry crawls behind Niall and grabs his waist, yanking him back towards him. Niall yelps when he ends up with his face firmly planted in Louis’ crotch and his ass in the air.

Harry serves a light smack to his bum and breathes out a fascinated, “Aw, he totally have the cutest ass. You like a little smacking don’t you, Niall?” Before Niall can protest, Harry smacks him harder.

“H-Harry,” Niall pants and tries to move his stinging ass away from Harry but Harry has a firm hold of his hip. Harry smooths a hand over the reddened flesh and Niall whimpers softly. 

“Go slow in, Haz,” Louis instructs.

“Yes,” Harry says, breath heavy and Niall’s heart hammers with anticipation when he feels Harry’s thick cock nudge against his hole. Harry teases him, rubbing the head against his entrance until Niall is shaking with impatience.

“Harry,” Louis reprimands.

“Sorry,” Harry says but judging by the grin in his voice, he isn’t all that sincerer.

Harry digs his blunt nails into Niall’s hips and begins to push into him. Niall gasps and grabs Louis’ hand for purchase, squeezing the life out of it. 

“Easy, breathe,” Louis murmurs softly above him and runs his fingers through his hair over and over to soothe him. Niall tries to regulate his breathing as Harry disappears into him, inch by inch. He’s as big as Niall remembers and they both let out a shuddery breath when Harry is finally all the way inside, balls pressed against Niall’s trembling backside.

“Oh, fuck, so tight,” Harry grunts, falling against Niall’s back. As Harry gives him time to get used to him, Niall first then notices the bulge in Louis’ pants. He reaches forward and nuzzles his cheeks against it, Louis’ breath hitching above him.

“Lou, let me,” Niall pleads softly. He doesn’t have to ask Louis twice. The boy pulls his beautiful cock from his pants and Niall eagerly slurps it into his mouth, swallowing around the head and Louis moans. 

He pushes Niall bangs from his face and watches him with hooded eyes as Niall does his best to suck him off in the position he’s in. “This is the hottest thing ever,” Harry pants next to his ear and peppers Niall’s back with soft kisses.

Niall squeezes Harry internally in a silent urge to move and Harry chokes a bit. He straightens up and begins moving, slow at first and then he begins snapping his hips with purpose and Niall cries out in pleasure, abandoning Louis cock.

Niall is a whining mess in seconds under that relentless pace and Harry grunts and groans above him, his nails leaving marks on Niall’s hips with how hard he’s gripping him there. Unintelligible words tumbles from Niall’s mouth and it isn’t long before he feels the fire of arousal lick up his inside, gripping his balls. 

“Harry,” Louis says simply just as Harry is about to bring Niall off the edge and Harry, without warning, pulls out. Niall keens loudly at the loss and Louis pats his cheek.

“It’s alright, be patient.”

Harry is breathing heavily behind him, there’s the slick, unmistakable sound of him stroking his cock and the next second, he’s coming with a stifled groan over the small of Niall’s back. The sticky warmth of Harry’s release leaves Niall light-headed.

Harry falls down next to him, curls flung back, cheeks bright red and a sated expression on his face. Niall also wants to get off so badly, “Louis,” he whines, looking up at the boy with wide, pleading eyes.

“Just a second,” Louis gets off the bed and strips down, his cock throbbing hard against his hip. He crawls back down and flips Niall onto his back, he hooks Niall’s knee over his elbow and pushes right in without any warning. 

Niall flings his head back against the pillow, his mouth falling open in a lewd moan. Louis’ moves into him, hard and fast and finds his prostrate within seconds. Once he found it, he began sliding the head of his cock against it, agonizingly slowly driving Niall absolutely mad.

When Niall thought he couldn’t take it anymore, Louis begins nailing his prostrate in sharp thrusts and Niall’s cock jumps, dribbling precum messily over his belly. Niall is pretty sure he’s going to pass out from the onslaught of pleasure.

Harry who’s finally come back down from his high watches them with a lazy, post-orgasm smile on his face. “You’re both so hot,” he mutters and strokes down Louis’ back and then down Nial’s chest, tweaking his sore nipples. Then he reaches down and takes Niall’s cock in his hand. He barely gets two strokes in, before Niall finally hits his orgasm and he comes harder than he ever has. He trembles with the force of it, his hole spasming around Louis’ cock.

He falls against the bed, boneless and holds his legs open for Louis. Louis follows him a few moments later as he gives a last sloppy thrust, coming with a snarl. Louis head falls against Niall’s shoulder and he uses several moments, panting heavily then he pulls back and looks down at Niall. Niall looks back with equally dazed eyes and Louis leans in to kiss him lazily on the lips before he just stays there, their foreheads together.

“This is the best day _ever_!” Harry announces happily breaking their little bubble and Niall laughs softly. Louis smirks and gently pulls out of Niall, collapsing on his other side.

Harry pushes himself up on his elbow and grins at them. “So...can we make this regular thing?”

Niall can only rolls his eyes and he feels wave of exhaustion crashing on top of him. Louis is the one to get up and get them towels to clean themselves. As soon as he’s back by Niall’s side, Niall rolls around so he can cuddle him, reaching sleepily for Harry. Harry happily cuddles into his back. 

Harry says something, Niall thinks, but he doesn’t register it as he promptly passes out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you can now find me on [tumblr](http://themiraal.tumblr.com/)! :)
> 
> Until next time xxx


	24. Chapter 24

chapter 24

 

Niall feels like it has been a long time since he has had a good week in Prescott Academy. But the week that follows his, Louis’ and Harry’s little trip, is in simple words _good_. When Niall woke up, tangled up in those two, he hadn’t been sure what to think and if this changed things.

But so far, he hasn’t seen any apparent changes. Harry is still horny and asking for a rerun but surprisingly, he doesn’t seem as thirsty as before; Niall reckons his thirst has been quenched. For now at least.

Niall is sure that he’ll been begging them full force sooner than later and a part of Niall— a big part— definitely wouldn’t mind.

Everything isn’t rainbows and flowers; Niall still has trouble sleeping at night, he still sees the look on Erika’s face the moment she knew she would fall, but the guilt isn’t as consuming as it had been. It’s still there, lurking in the shadows and waiting for any chance to sink it’s teeth into Niall, but at least now, he doesn’t feel like he’ll go crazy at any second.

He keeps himself busy and this week he’s had plenty to keep him busy; the last assignments before the finals, the debate club— Stacy hasn’t asked him anything about Erika since Louis talked to her and whatever Louis said to her, Niall is forever grateful— but what keeps his mind busy the most is definitely planning Zayn’s big 18th birthday.

Louis is the one who’s in the control of the planning; Niall isn’t sure who gave him that control, but he wouldn’t be surprised if Louis seized it himself as he usually does. Niall doesn’t mind, he has little experience planning a party— except that distrateous fundraiser last year and he isn’t going to repeat something like that again. Besides, he has his hands full trying to come up with a good birthday gift to Zayn.

He is currently sitting in the parlor room with Harry and Liam. He’s slung across the loveseat, balancing his computer on his lap as he browses the internet for any ideas. He huffs frustrated when he comes up with nothing. 

“What on earth do you buy for someone who has anything they could want?” He complains.

He doesn’t get an answer. Harry is on the floor before him, completely absorbed by playing with Panda. Liam is sitting by the table with his thick History text book before him, highlighting paragraphs.

Niall clears his throat loudly. He doesn’t get any reaction.

“Guys!” He whines and stretches his legs so he can nudge Harry with his foot.

They finally turn to look at him and Niall rolls his eyes. “What should I buy for Zayn?”

“We already told you, you don’t have to buy Zayn anything,” Liam says.

Niall narrows his eyes at him. “Because I’m poor?”

Liam chuckles. “That’s not what I said. All I’m saying is that there’s little Zayn needs, besides we’re throwing him a birthday party. Us being there to celebrate it with him is all he wants.”

“Cheesy,” Harry grins. He strokes the kitten’s fur and she purrs happily. He tilts his head to look at Niall. “Do you know what you _could_ afford?”

Niall eyes him suspiciously. “What?”

Harry smirks. “A birthday blowjob has never failed!”

Niall rolls his eyes so hard it actually hurts. “Shut up, you idiot. Why are you so predictable?”

“Harry!” Liam exclaims in a scandalized tone. “Niall is with Louis, he can’t just give Zayn a blowjob.”

Harry rolls onto his side so he’s facing Liam and rests his cheek against his knuckles. “When was the last time you had a blowjob, Liam, seriously?”

Liam blushes hard at the question, spluttering, “T-that’s none of your business!” He snaps, cheeks red and turns back to his book, staring hard at the pages.

Harry, however, is unrelenting. “Did Dani ever give you a blowjob? I mean, you would loosen a little up if you got a blowjob instead of having your nose stuck in books all the time.”

“Some of us actually wants to get good grades in a _honest_ way,” Liam says offended. He is obviously implying that the only reason Harry even manages to stay in school is in a less than honest way; Niall wouldn’t be surprised if Harry got the exam papers long before the actual exam the way Louis did.

“I’ll give you a blowjob, how about that?” Harry leers at Liam, licking his lips in an obscene way and it obviously has the desired effect as Liam blushes crimson red.  
“W-What!? No!” Liam exclaims.

“Why? Because I’m a boy? Come on, a mouth is a mouth,” Harry says and he’s enjoying torturing Liam, it’s so obvious. “And I have a really skilled mouth, ask Niall.”

“ _Harry_!” Liam whines, practically begging Harry to back off.

“I know you’ve got a big, fat dick, Leeyum. Let me have a taste, yeah?”

Niall decides it’s a good time to step in and save Liam as the poor lad looks like he might die. He gives Harry a half-hearted kick in the rump, “No! Bad Harry!” He says and puts on a stern face, wiggling his finger at Harry as if he’s a dog. 

Harry naturally decides to play along and he gives a ‘whoof’ that earns a confused look from the kitten before he jumps on Niall. Niall manages to save the computer before they crash to the floor, laughing as they wrestle playfully.

Liam sighs deeply. “You guys are too much.”

“Seriously, guys! Give me some ideas!” Niall says once he somehow manages to fight Harry off. “What have you gifted Zayn before?”

“Oh! Oh! Here’s a fun story!” Harry says with a wide grin. “I once gifted him an envelope full of glitter! You should’ve _seen_ his face, he was so mad and the glitter would still be found in his hair weeks later.”

“Why the fuck would you do that?” Niall asks amused.

“Because, he was a real dick to me when we first met,” Harry explains. “Like, we were both new, right? and then we had to share a room and he hated me for no reason at all.”

“You were a little obnoxious,” Liam points out.

“I was _not_! I was trying to be his friends but he was all like ‘Oh, I’m a prince so I’m better than you—get out of my way peasant!” Harry does a badly impression of Zayn’s voice that has Niall laughing.

“You were roommates, your freshman year? That’s crazy,” Niall says and is once again reminded that these boys have known each other far longer than he has known them.

“Mmm,” Harry hums, returning his attention to Panda. “But of course he warmed up to me. No one can resist my charm forever.”

“Oh, shut up,” Niall says fondly and crawls back onto the sofa so he can return to his hunt for a gift; it is obvious that neither Liam nor Harry will be of much help.

 

_###_

 

It is Thursday and the weather is absolutely beautiful. The warm sun has seduced even the people prone to hide indoors outside where people are enjoying the beautiful day, sitting outside in the soft grass.

Niall is no different and he along with Harry, Zayn and Liam has secured themselves a square of grass where they’ve settled down. They ignore the opened books in front of them in favor of talking about nothing and everything. 

“No, the reason why I hated you so much was because you had no concept of personal space,” Zayn says as he gracefully sips his iced coffee. They’ve somehow brought back the topic about Zayn and Harry’s freshman year together as roommates. 

“He still doesn’t,” Liam snorts.

“Hey!” Harry complains. 

Niall sits back with his fro-yo and enjoys the beautiful weather and Zayn and Harry’s bickering; it is quite entertaining actually.

“And you brought back a girl every fucking night,” Zayn says, continuing the list of what had made Harry the absolutely worst roommate ever. “I even found a used condoms more than once!”

“You’re just jealous all the girls liked me more than you!” Harry says with smirk. “I even tried to get you laid more than once! Even tried to hook you up with Miss Ferguson!”

“We’re not talking about that!” Zayn snaps quickly

“Ohhhh,” Liam says lowly and smiles sheepishly at Zayn’s glare.

Niall’s interest has been piqued and he naturally asks, “Who was Miss Ferguson?”

“She was--” Harry begins to say but Zayn clamps a hand over his mouth, “No!” He protests, “I told you we aren’t talking about---ew!” Zayn quickly pulls his hand back when Harry licks his palm.

“She was a substitute teacher our freshman year and Zayn had the hugest crush on her!” Harry says in all one breath before Zayn has a chance to silence him again. Zayn sends him a withering glare.

“Jesus Christ,” Zayn mutters with a defeated sigh and slips on his shades. Niall watches him, intrigued. He hadn’t known that Zayn was into older women. Actually, they never discussed their past relationship when they were together.

“She was like super hot and practically everyone had a crush on her,” Harry continues.

“Not everyone,” Liam pipes in.

Harry rolls his eyes, “Shut up, Liam.” and earns an offended look from said boy.

“She had these tits,” Harry says and cups his hand under his flat chest. Zayn looks murderous.

“Harry,” He says warningly but Harry pays no heed.

“And little Zayn here was practically head over heels for her. And let me tell you, Zayn didn’t always look like this, he was short, like hobbit-kind of short.”

Niall can’t help but laugh at the visual that provides and Liam joins in. Zayn looks absolutely betrayed.

“But for reasons I don’t understand, Zayn was her favorite--”

“Probably because I actually did my homework and participated in class,” Zayn snarls.

“Yeah, you were trying so hard to impress her and it worked, didn’t it? She liked you the best and I convinced you to make a move.”

“And that didn’t end well,” Liam says.

“Let me tell the story, Payne!” Harry exclaims. He turns to a rather amused Niall, “Anyways, little Zayn buys a bouquet of flowers and confesses his love—”

“That’s not what happened!” Zayn splutters.

“Well, you _did_ go to see her one evening, didn’t you?” Harry says.

“I didn’t go to confess my love and I certainly didn’t bring flowers, you little punk!” Zayn looks about ready to strangle Harry and Niall can only imagine what warzone their room must’ve been back when they were roommates.

“But you _did_ walk in on her and her boyfriend, right?”

Zayn purses his lips and looks away with a huff. 

“Aww,” Niall says before he can stop himself and receives a look from Zayn that clearly tells him he didn’t appreciate that.

Liam pats Zayn’s back comfortingly. “You were so broken, Zee.”

“I wasn’t,” Zayn mutters weakly and it’s obvious that he had been.

“Oh the tragedy of unrequited first love,” Harry says dramatically and that’s seems to be the straw for Zayn who promptly spills his drink all over Harry.

“Hey!”

Harry tries to dry himself on Zayn and Zayn tries to get away. Niall is quickly distracted by the ensuing scuffle when he notices Louis and Stacy walking out from the café, _together_. Niall stares wide-eyed, they don’t look hostile together, they’re actually _smiling_ together.

The hell has frozen over.

Niall quickly leaves Liam to Zayn and Harry in favor of seeing the impossible up close. Louis sees him coming and opens his arms for him.

“Hey! There you are!” Niall leans in and give Louis a kiss on the cheek. He turns to Stacy, “And with Stacy,” he says with unconcealed surprise.

“Hello, Niall,” Stacy greets easily like she isn’t fraternizing with her sworn enemy.

Niall looks between them with excited eyes, “Oh! Are you friends again?”

“What? _No_ ,” They say at the same time and give each other a measured look. Niall is confused.

“What?”

Stacy rolls her eyes. “As if I’d be friends with him.”

“I’m not falling over myself to be besties with you either, Stacy,” Louis says but he’s smirking and neither of their words contains any venom. Niall isn’t sure what’s going on.  
“Um….okay?” He says, eyeing them. “Anyways, I was wondering how it was going with the invites to Zayn’s party?”

“I’m getting them in the mail today,” Louis says. He turns to Stacy, “You can drop by.”

Stacy raises a brow. “You’re inviting me?” She asks amused.

“You are?” Niall asks and stares at Louis.

Louis shrugs. “What can I say? You have a reputation of crashing and ruining my parties. I’d like this one to go without any incident.”

Stacy actually laughs. “I have better things to do that hang out with Privilege kids,” she says and flicks her hair over her shoulder. “But have fun. I know it’ll be hard without me spicing it up.” With that, she turns on her heels and struts away.

Niall stares after her. “Is this a frenemy kind of thing?”

“Who knows,” Louis says, always enjoying to be an enigma. He wraps his arm around Niall’s waist and pulls him close. “I haven’t seen you all day. Wanna sneak off and play a little?”

How can Niall say no to that?

 

_###_

Zayn’s birthday party is absolutely _off the hook_.

The whole Privilege House is here and whoever else Louis deemed could come. Zayn looks absolutely thrilled. He can’t wipe that huge grin off his face—that one where he presses his tongue against the back of his cheeks and his eyes squints, the skin around them crinkling.

He begins laughing when Louis perches a hilarious looking crown on top of his head and pushes a colorful drink into his hand. He has his own drink as he slings an arm around Zayn’s shoulder,

“Happy birthday to our favorite prince!” He shouts and it’s shouted right back at him. Harry begins singing happy birthday and Zayn fondly rolls his eyes though everyone else quickly joins in until Zayn looks a little uneasy at all the attention.

Throughout the party, Niall searches for a moment he can get Zayn alone, but it isn’t easy when everyone is all over the birthday boy. So Niall decides to wait till later when everyone isn’t all over Zayn.

He gets the chance a little later when he catches Zayn sneaking off, probably in search of a little space; true to nature, Zayn has never been able to stay in a room full of people for a longer period of time without taking a little breather.

Niall gives him 10 minutes before he follows him. He finds him outside in the garden, sitting on the stone bench and staring up at the night sky. Niall sneaks up behind him.

“What are you doing missing your own party?”

Zayn startles and looks at Niall, wide-eyed. “Jesus, Niall, don’t do that,” he breathes, putting a hand over his heart. 

Niall smiles and sits down next to him and looks up at the sky; it’s dark, the stars hidden by the city’s light pollution.

“So...how does it feel to be 18?” Niall asks after they’d sat there in companionable silence for a little while.

Zayn smiles wryly. “I don’t know,” he shrugs, “Feels a bit the same, y’know?”

Niall nods. “You’re still the same person you were yesterday.”

“Basically,” Zayn says, then he laughs, “I feel old, that’s weird, right?” He turns to look at Niall and seems genuinely concerned.

“Would be cool if one could stay young forever,” Niall says with a smile. Zayn lets out a wistful sigh. He turns back to the sky and begins humming the tone to ‘forever young’. It makes Niall smile wider.

“Hey,” he says after some time and produces the small, wrapped gift he’d been hiding. “I got you something.”

Zayn looks down at the gifts, “You really shouldn’t have,” he says though he looks happy that Niall did.

Niall fingers the perfectly wrapped paper, “It’s nothing fancy, no limited gucci or rolex watch or anything like that,” he says, suddenly feeling self-conscious.

“I don’t care,” Zayn says. “I’d be happy with anything you gave me.”

He says it in a way that makes Niall look up at him and then they just sit there and look at each other until it’s a little too much and Niall breaks the eye-contact, clearing his throat. 

“Anyways…” He glances back at Niall and hands him the gift. He watches nervously as Zayn tears into the paper until he can pull out the leather bound journal. Zayn looks a bit puzzled as he runs his fingers over the surface.

 

“Um, it’s for your writing,” Niall blurts and Zayn looks up at him. “I just remember that you told me you wanted to be either a successful painter or a writer or both. And if you ask me you’re already a pretty damn good painter, so now you just needs the writing part. I thought you could use the notebook to jot down everything you see, hear, think and feel. Sort of like practise, y’know. Oh my God, you think it’s a lame ass gift, right?”

Zayn who’d just been staring at him throughout his idiotic rant, breaks into a beautiful smile. “No,” he shakes his head and looks down at the journal and back at Niall. “It’s the most thoughtful gift I’ve gotten all night. Thank you.”

Niall sags in relief. “Oh thank God,” he sighs. “I thought you might hate it.”

“I love it,” Zayn assures. “I can’t believe you remember I said that...that was so long ago.”

“Of course I remember,” Niall says softly. “Happy birthday, Zayn.”

Zayn smiles at him and Niall smiles right back, and the moment is good. 

“Shall we get back to the party?” Niall says eventually.

Zayn nods and rises to his feet.

“Yeah.”

 

_###_

At a later point in the party, Niall is tipsy and searching for Harry. He needs to ask him something, but Harry is nowhere to be found. One girl points him towards the direction she thinks she saw him go and Niall walks down the hall until he comes to an alcove. At first he doesn’t see anything and he’s about to turn around but then he hears the soft, unmistakable sounds of someone moaning. At first, Niall thinks that Harry has got some girl back there, but then it registers in his mind that those aren’t girl moans.

Niall wonders what boy Harry has seduced and he should really just turn and leave him be, but he’s curious. A little peek can’t hurt, he thinks. He tiptoes up to the corner and peeks around it.

He hadn’t expected the sight that meets him.

Harry is on his knees, head bobbing and Niall is shocked to see who he’s pleasuring. 

It’s _Liam_.

Liam is leaned up against the wall with his fingers in Harry’s hair and Harry is steadying him with his hands on Liam’s thighs.

Harry who’s kneeled in front of him and it doesn’t take a genius to guess exactly what he’s doing.

Niall stares wide-eyed at the scene. He’d honestly not thought that Harry would succeed in seducing Liam as straight as Liam likes to remind them he is. But apparently, Harry has convinced him that a mouth down there, is just a mouth down there no matter who it belongs to. And judging by Liam’s expression, he’s enjoying it.

Niall might’ve stayed there and stared forever if Liam didn’t catch him peeping. Liam’s eyes widens and he’s got that deer in headlights look. Niall gives a quick, apologetic smile and hurries away.

Niall returns to the party and spots Louis and Zayn together in a dark corner as they share a joint and laugh in that way one does when they’re high.

Niall watches them and decides to join them. He’s on his way towards them when his phone beeps with an incoming text and Niall stops up and fishes his phone out of his pocket. He checks the message, thinking that it might be his brother or something, but what he reads isn’t what he’s expecting at all.

 _I know what you did_.

Niall’s body freezes up and his breath catches in his throat. It’s as he’s staring at the text in shock that another one beeps in,

_you won’t get away with it_

Niall suddenly feels dizzy and he grapples against the nearby wall for purchase. He presses the screen of his phone against his chest and looks around paranoidly. His heart is beating rapidly against his chest and all he can hear in his head in a continuous rant of _notagain.notagain.notagain._

Another text beeps in and Niall opens it dreadfully, _I will make you pay for what you did_. Niall closes his eyes and tries to take a deep breath but he feels like he’s suffocating. He knows what those texts means and it scares the living daylight out of him.

He spins on his heels and makes his way outside, in desperate need of air. The air has dropped since he last was outside and he shivers in his thin shirt. He takes several deep breaths as he tries desperately to calm himself down. He’s concentrating so hard on that, that he doesn’t hear the steps behind him.

He first hears them when they are close behind him. He begins to turn around and the next second, something hard hits his head and everything fades to black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LISTEN. THERE'S ONLY TWO CHAPTERS LEFT! HOLY FUCK. IT'S BEEN SO LONG AND THE END IS FINALLY HERE. IT'S BITTERSWEET.
> 
> Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter :*


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second to last chapter!!!

Chapter 25

Niall wakes up to the feeling of his head being torn into two and the back of his neck aching. He slowly lifts his head from where it’d been dropped to his chest as his eyes slowly blinks open. He groans quietly in pain and he doesn’t remember anything at all; where he is and what is happening or why he feels like he’s been run over by a truck twice.

Or for that matter why he’s sitting on the floor in an uncomfortable position with his hands and feet tied.

“What?” He blinks confused and tries to pull his hands free, all he gets is the uncomfortable rope biting into his skin. He tries to move his feet which also turns out fruitlessly. He sits there and stares at nothing for a long moment as his brain scrambles to retrieve the memories he seems to have lost. He slowly looks around the room for clues; he’s in a parlor room, there was a flat screen on the other end of the room and leather couches and lounge chairs and a few oil paintings hanging around. The light is on but dim; outside, the night is still black.

For a moment, Niall thinks that this is some prank until the memories finally comes rushing back to him. He’d been at Zayn’s birthday party when he’d received a rather threatening text messages and he’d gone outside to get some air and clear his head. Niall feels like a bucket of ice-cold water is dumped on him when he remembers the sound of footsteps behind him, the sharp pain at the back of his head and then total darkness.

He doesn’t get much time to freak out at what that might mean when the door opens with a quiet creak and a boy not much older than Niall steps inside. Niall stares at him with wide eyes and racing heart; he’s wearing a pair of rectangle-shaped glasses that makes his baby-cheeked face look older and slightly long dirty-blonde hair. He’s dressed in the typical preppy rich boy style; his tall gangly frame making him appear the more boyish and awkward. And even though he doesn’t look like much of a threat, the fact that Niall is in the position he is, determine otherwise.

The boy looks at him and their eyes meet. There’s something dark and cold in the boy’s eyes that only makes the dread curl tighter in Niall’s stomach. He swallows, throat suddenly feeling sandpaper-dry.

“Oh, you’re awake,” the boy sneers with an unexpectedly deep voice. He glares at Niall like Niall has done him horribly unjust and Niall feels guilty even though he has no idea what’s going on.

“What…what is this?” He asks hoarsely. He clears his throat and adds more clearly, “Who are you?”

The boy stalks towards him threateningly and Niall resists the urge to back away and cower against the wall; this is obviously not the time to show any weakness even though he’s never felt more scared. 

“Me?” the boys asks mockingly. He stops in front of Niall and stares down at him. “Why don’t you take a wild guess, Niall Horan?”

His name is spat out with so much disgust that Niall feels slightly shocked. “I have no idea…why am I here? If this is supposed to be a prank then it’s not funny.”

The guy lets out a short, cynical laugh that makes the fine hair on the back of Niall’s neck rise. “Oh, you’d wish it was a prank.”

Niall swallows heavily. “Who are you?”

The boy squats down so he is on eye-level with Niall, his gaze narrowed at him. “Do you really think you’d get away with it?”

Now, Niall has a very good idea what this is about but the thought is so terrifying, he rather be in denial for as long as he possibly can, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

At once, the guy’s face darkens, eyes thundering, “Don’t play dumb with me!” he snaps, the sudden rise in volume makes Niall flinch back. The guy glares at Niall, radiating so much hatred, it has Niall speechless. “You really thought you’d get away with it! You and you entitled friends! You always get away with things but this time you went too far! _Too far_!”

He’s red in the face from anger at this point and he rises to his feet, pacing the room. Niall watches him anxiously.

“Is this..” He clears his throat. “…is this about Erika?”

The boy turns on him fast like a snake and Niall doesn’t see it coming before there’s a loud smacking noise. Niall stares stunned at the guy, his cheek stinging from the unexpected slap.

“Don’t say her name your filth!” He snarls viciously.

This person is unstable. Niall can see it in his eyes and it only serves to intensity the terror Niall feels at the moment. He doesn’t know what this guy is going to do to him, but he doubts he’ll get out of this one unscratched.

The boy is still looming over him. “Why did she have to die? Why did you have to kill her?” his voice shakes with unhidden emotions and he sounds genuinely lost and confused. Niall swallows, the pit of guilt opening inside of him and he lowers his gaze.

“We didn’t—“ He begins.

“Don’t lie to me!” The boy interrupts sharply as he leans closer and for a moment, Niall thinks he’s going to receive another burning smack. But instead, the boy straightens up, pointing accusingly at Niall. “I know it was you! She told me everything about you! How you ruined her life! And now you took it away! Your murderer!”

“It was an _accident_!” Niall exclaims, unable to stay quiet on the matter. He needs this guy to understand that they’d never harm her intentionally. “I swear, we didn’t mean for it to happen!”

“Shut up!” The boy snaps, nose flaring, fingers curling into fists and he’s probably going to punch Niall black and blue any moment now. “She’s _dead_ and it’s your fault. You’re going to pay for it.”

Niall feels cold all over at the threat. “…how are you going to do that?” he dares to ask.

The guy—Erika’s friend? Brother? Boyfriend?—gives Niall a rather dark look. 

“They do say an eye for an eye…” he reached behind him and Niall is paralyzed by fear when he sees what he’s got in his hand. “A life for a life.”

He just drew a gun and he points it at Niall. Niall scrambles back as best as he can, the color draining from his face as he blabbers out a plea, “N-No, please d-don’t!”

The guy snorts and lowers the gun. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to kill you…yet.”

That does little to comfort Niall and he slumps against the wall, letting out a small shaky breath. He stares at the gun, follows it as the guy returns it to where he’d pulled it from. If he hadn’t been sure before that this boy was utterly out of his mind, he is definitely sure now and if he doesn’t find a way to escape, he’ll be dead within the next few hours.

“I want him to be here to watch you die.” The guy has walked up to the window and is staring outside. Niall watches him. He has a fairly good feeling who the guy is talking about, but it doesn’t stop him from asking,

“Who?”

The boy turns his gaze on him. “Well, your boyfriend of course.”

Niall’s eyes fall shut. This lunatic is going to lure Louis out here and then he’s going to kill them both. 

“Why are you doing this?” He asks weakly.

“Stop asking stupid question!” The boy snaps and he has a short fuse, which only makes this predicament worse. Niall doesn’t understand how he always manages to attract psychopaths; maybe he should become a cop, his job might be easier if the criminals came to him without effort on his part. “This is revenge for killing Erika.”

Every time he mentions her name, pain flashes across his face and Niall asks carefully, “Was she your girlfriend?”

Something in the boy’s face falls, “I loved her,” he says, voice softer than anything he’d used so far but it quickly turns sharp, “And you took her away from me.”

Niall has to wonder if someone accidently killed Louis, if he’d lose his mind quite literally like this and go on a psychopathic revenge quest. The chances are slim and he believes that would only happen if he had a previous history of mental problems.

“What’s your name?” 

The guy glares at him and Niall shrugs a little, “You’re going to kill me. I think you can tell me that much at least.”

The boy looks like he might snap again, but then he answers, “Brian.”

Niall nods slowly, right, so this mentally unstable kid and his possible future murderer is named Brian. _Great_.

Brian straightens up and fishes a phone out of his pocket. He proceeds to turn it on and glances at Niall, “They should call any second now.”

It takes Niall longer than he likes to admit to realize that it’s _his_ phone; Brian must’ve taken it while he was out cold. He doesn’t get more time to think of that as the next second, the phone rings and Niall swallows, knowing very well who it would be.

Brian stares at the ringing phone with an unreadable expression and just as Niall thinks he’ll let it go to the voicemail, does he take it. And Louis voice booms out from the other end,

“Niall!? Where are you?” He sounds like a mix of worried and irritated. “We’re leaving and I can’t find you anywhere.”

Niall wants to cry out for help but one look from Brian tells him that’s not a wise idea. Brian sits down on a chair and leans forward, holding the phone close to his mouth.

“If you don’t do what I say you won’t ever find him,” Brian says and Niall can’t help but think he sounds like a bad villain in a movie. “Alive, that is.”

There’s a pause on the other end for a long moment to the point where Niall thinks Louis has hung up. Then he speaks,

“Who is this?” He asks calm, measured but there’s still razor-sharp edges to his voice.

“Your worst nightmare,” Brian replies darkly and yep, definitely a bad villain in a movie. “Your boyfriend is with me and unharmed, for now. I need you and your satellites to do exactly as I say.”

There’s another great pause and Niall can see how irritated Brian grows for every passing second.

“Let me speak to him,” Louis says then and his using _that_ voice; that voice that dare you to oppose, but it can’t be a smart move. Brian is mentally unstable and he looks even angrier now.

“You’re in no position to give demands!” he snaps heatedly and he’s getting red in the face again, his knuckles turning white around Niall’s phone.

“How do I know he’s alright? I want proof,” Louis reasons calmly and he’s got a point. Niall can see that Brian understands that as well and he turns to glare at Niall as he with great reluctance put the phone close to his mouth.

“Louis,” Niall says and he sounds small and scared which isn’t his intention, but the fear creeps into his voice.

“Niall. Niall, did he hurt you?” Louis asks urgently and Niall shakes his head then realizes that Louis can’t see him.

“I’m alright. Louis—“

Before Niall can say more Brian removes the phone from his mouth and Niall feels like an idiot; he should’ve used those precious seconds to give Louis a lead on where he is. 

“There you have your proof,” Brian sneers into the phone.

“I swear to God, if you hurt him, I’ll tear the heaven and earth apart to find you and I’ll make you regret it.” Anyone who knows Louis knows that the threat is as real as it gets but Brian doesn’t look worried, he merely scoffs.

“If you even try to call the police, all they’ll find is his dead body.” Niall gulps. “I don’t have anything to lose, but you have plenty. Wait for further instructions.”

He hangs up, Niall doesn’t know what he’s planning, and it scares him.

+++

“Can I have some water, please?”

Niall has never felt more thirsty, not even when he’s been playing hours of lacrosse; his mouth feels so dry. Brian has been standing by the window gazing outside from where he’d lifted the curtain; he’s got the gun out. He turns to look at him with an annoyed glare.

“Be quiet.”

“Please?” Niall tries to look as pitiful as possible.

Brian ignores him for a few seconds before he grumbles under his breath and relents. He approached Niall with a glass of water and crouches down, bringing the glass to Niall’s lips. Niall drinks greedily, the cold liquid washing down his dry throat and he sighs softly.

“Thank you.”

Brian only looks more annoyed by the show of gratitude, he mutters something under his breath and gets to his feet, moving back to the window. Niall watches him for a while, before he says,

“Can I ask you something?”

Brian doesn’t turn to look at him and grumbles an irritated, “What?”

“Why don’t you just call the police and have them arrest us?” Niall asks, genuinely wanting to know, “If you kill me and Louis, you’ll get thrown into jail for the rest of your life.” He’s praying that Brian can see logic and what he’s doing is anything but.

Brian finally turns to look at him, his eyes thundering and Niall thinks he maybe should just shut the fuck up. “Because they wouldn’t serve justice,” he sneers. “They wouldn’t give you what you deserve and I know that Louis Tomlinson would find a way to wiggle out of problems. No. I have to take this into my own hands.”

“You’ll get thrown into jail,” Niall tries again weakly.

“Then it’s good that I have nothing to lose.” Niall doesn’t think he’s heard anything scarier all day. “You already took everything away from me.”

Brian turns back to the window, Niall wants to try a little harder but he figures that wouldn’t be a good idea. So he sits back as his brain works hard to find a way out of this predicament and the knowledge that these might be his final hours doesn’t ease the pressure.

 

It’s a while later when Brian speaks up again. “Your boyfriend will be here any minute.”

Niall blinks back from the dark places his thoughts had taken him. “What?”

Brian glances at him. “I sent him the address and told him to come alone. Enjoy your last minutes of life.”

The only thing Niall is clinging on to is that Louis doesn’t come here without a plan, but then again he’s _Louis_ , he wouldn’t come here without a plan. At least Niall hopes so.

“He’s here,” Brian announces. Niall’s heart beat a little faster and he sits up straight, staring wide-eyed at Brian who’s looking out of the window with narrowed eyes and dark face. In the distance, Niall hears the sound of a car.

Brian lets the curtains fall shut and he moves towards the door with purposeful strides. “Wait!” Niall blurts but Brian ignores him and walks out, leaving him alone and scared and frustrated.

“Goddamn it!” Niall hisses and tries desperately to pull his hands free but the only thing he achieves is the twine biting into his skin. He bites the inside of his cheeks and he wants to scream. He doesn’t want that psychopath anywhere near Louis but as it is, he’s helpless.

Niall doesn’t know how long he sits there, drowning in dread and he’s seconds away from losing his mind when the door is pushed open. The knot in Niall’s stomach releases slightly when Louis walks inside but it tightens right up when Brian follows right after, the gun in his hands pressed to the back of Louis’ head. Despite the deathly position Louis is in, he doesn’t look awfully scared.

His eyes finds Niall’s and Niall can see the relief in them. 

“Louis!”

Louis makes to move towards him but Brian presses the gun harder into his head and hisses, “No! Over there. Now.” He pushes Louis in the opposite direction of Niall and he goes without protest.

“So…what is all of this about if I may ask?” Louis’ gaze slides over Brian with an expression like he isn’t sure what to think of him; as if Brian isn’t pointing a gun at him. Niall can only imagine that it’s a mask; he must be as terrified as Niall and right now, Niall doesn’t see any grand plan Louis might have.

“This, _you piece of shit_ , is you getting what you deserve for killing Erika!” Brian seems angrier in Louis’ presence and it might have something to do with the air Louis is exuding; the _’I deal with psychopaths like you on the daily’_.

Louis crosses his arms and raises a brow. “And who do you think you are, dishing out justice?”

Niall doesn’t understand what the fuck Louis is doing and if he’s trying to piss Brian off, it’s working greatly. Brian takes a step closer towards Louis, gun still raised;

“Shut up! I’m going to kill him in front of you so you can feel the pain I felt!”

“And then what’s the plan, genius?” 

Suddenly Brian stalks over to Niall and grabs his arm roughly, tilting the gun against his temple. The mouth of the gun is cold and smooth and Niall’s heart is in his throat, skin pale and eyes wide in terror.

Niall whimpers. “Please don’t do this.”

“You think I’m bluffing?” Brian asks quietly.

Now, Louis seems to have realized that whatever approach he was taking isn’t working on Brian and he his eyes flickers to Niall’s for a moment.

“I think you don’t know what you’re doing,” Louis replies.

Brian scoffs. “Oh, I know exactly what I’m doing.”

“We didn’t mean to kill your girlfriend,” Louis tries to explain, as fruitless as that is at the moment. “That wasn’t what we planned.”

“But it’s what you did!” Brian screams, the sudden rise in volume making both Niall and Louis flinch. “I don’t care what your intentions are, she’s still dead! _Dead_! And so is he!” He tilts the gun harder against Niall’s temple and Niall’s eyes falls shut, soft prayers tumbling from his lips.

“Listen, you don’t have to do this.” Louis is beginning to sound genuinely desperate, something you don’t hear often. “We can work this out, ok. If you let us go, then we won’t report this and we can pretend it never happened, alright?”

“No, Louis,” Brian says darkly. “This is the one time you can’t buy your way out of things. It’s over.”

“It was me!” Louis exclaims suddenly. “I killed her! I killed your psycho—stalker girlfriend! Me! Deal with me!”

Something snaps in Brian, Niall can feel it and he straightens up, “Don’t call her that! Fine! I’ll kill you first!” He stalks closer to Louis, pointing the gun towards him as Louis back away.

“No!” Niall screams. “Please don’t!”

At the same moment, the door bursts open and Liam, Zayn and Harry tumble inside. For a second, everyone freezes to their spot, Brian stares shocked at the three, new unexpected arrivers, the three stares at Brian and the gun in his hand.

“He has a gun!” Harry screams.

Louis steps forward but freezes when Brian turns the gun back on him. Liam jumps into action and lunges at Brian, taking him down, both of them crashing to the floor. Louis throws himself into the struggle for the gun while Zayn rushes over to Niall and struggles to untie him. Harry remains frozen by the door, looking ghostly white.

Zayn manages to loosen Niall’s ties enough so Niall can pull his hands free. He’s frantically working on the ties around his ankles when a shot goes off. The gunshot is so loud that Niall’s ears ring and his mind goes blank for a moment with terror. 

“Liam!” Someone screams.

Liam is on the floor, clutching his legs, blood seeping out through the gaps between his fingers and his face is contorted in pain. Louis and Harry are next to him and worse of all; Brian has the gun and is scrambling to his feet, his glasses nearly falling off his face.

“Oh my God,” Niall gasps as he gets to his feet as well and he and Zayn rushes to Liam’s side.

“I told you to come alone!” Brian screeches, his eyes wild and face red. He’s pointing the gun directly at them. Liam groans in pain, Harry begins sobbing, Zayn grabs Niall’s hand, clutching it for dear life and Niall can barely hear anything above his own crazy heartbeat. 

Until he hears the unmistakable sound of police sirens in the background.

Brian goes very still as he hears it as well. “You called the cops?” He gapes like he can’t believe they hadn’t listened to him. Louis carefully rises to his feet and lifts his hands; they’re dripping with blood. Liam’s blood. Niall feels sick.

“It’s over,” Louis says quietly. 

For a moment, Brian looks defeated as he slowly lowers the gun, but the next something crazy strikes his face and he lifts the gun, pointing it directly at Louis’ chest.

“Yes,” he says darkly. “It’s over for you.”

“No!” Niall doesn’t know if it’s his scream or Harry’s or Zayn’s or all of them. 

He throws himself forward—all he can think of is saving Louis—the gun goes off the next second, a loud crack and there’s screams, chaos and darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH MY! I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS IS THE SECOND LAST CHAPTER! IT'S BEEN A LONG JOURNEY BUT WE'RE ALMOST AT THE END!
> 
> OMG. THAT LAST BIT. I'M SORRY. I WILL TRY TO UPDATE WITHIN THE NEXT WEEK--I HAVE A WEEK OFF SCHOOL AND HOPEFULLY NOTHING COMES UP.
> 
> aight, imma stop abusing capslock. You can find me on my [tumblr](http://themiraal.tumblr.com/). Come talk to me about this chapter or anything in general. 
> 
> love ya x


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG. IT'S HERE. THE LAST CHAPTER.
> 
> I'm not so happy with this last chapter. I did my best but something is still missing. 
> 
> I hope you will still enjoy it.
> 
> Go on, unedited and everything, you've been warned!

Chapter 26 

Niall is acquainted with the hospital already from a young age. His first trip to the hospital is back in fourth grade when his mother first began popping pills like they were tic-tacs; he was there at least once every few months after that. He’d hated it. He hates it now; the white sterile walls, the grim-looking orderlies, the somber lightning and _the smell_ ; God, the smell of cleaning detergents desperately trying to drown out the smell of sickness and despair was enough to nearly drive him mad.

He’s sitting on a bench in a small crowded waiting room with a bunch of blankets over him—still, he kept shaking as if the cold has penetrated his very bones—and staring at the opposite, blank wall. There’s only one thing on his mind;

_This isn’t happening._

Except it is, it’s very much happening.

All he can see is _blood_ ; so much blood. And so much worse is the fear in Louis’ eyes as he struggled to breathe, clutching the wound in his chest where the gun had torn through. Niall has never seen Louis afraid, he’s never seen anyone with so much fear in their eyes—fear of the unknown—as their blood seeped through the gaps between their fingers. 

Harry is sitting across from him, face gaunt as if the screams—his screams still vibrates in Niall’s eardrums—sucked all life out of him. He’s curled into his mother’s side—his parents had been in town, the first pair of parents to arrive—as his mother’s rubs his shoulder soothingly, over and over again. He’s crying, he’s been doing that for the last few hours and Niall doesn’t understand how he doesn’t run out of tears.

Mr. Styles is standing just outside the waiting room doors and talking to the police. Their headmistress, Mrs. Jensen, is there as well and she looks about fifty years older; face drawn tight as she nods along with the police officers. Niall knows they’re in trouble, but right now, he can’t get himself to care. He wouldn’t give a shit if he got thrown in jail if it meant Louis is going to be alright. If he isn’t…Niall quickly shakes off that thought; Louis is going to be fine, he _always_ turns out just fine. He’s _Louis Tomlinson_ , for God’s sake.

Niall needs to believe that. It’s the last thread of his sanity that he’s hanging on to.

It’s hard though; especially with the knowledge that Louis is lying on a table somewhere- _in critical condition_ , they’d said—getting a surgery. His life hangs in a thin threat and Niall might lose his mind if he loses Louis. There’s only so much he can go through.

Liam’s alright; the bullet grazed his leg and left a nasty wound, but he’s going to be alright the doctors said. If the bullet had gone through his legs it could’ve damaged the tissues and shattered the bones; he might never have been able to walk again. 

“Hey.”

Niall startles out of his thoughts as Zayn sits down next to him. He looks up at him; Zayn looks exhausted, pale, and older somehow. There’s traces of blood on his shirt, probably Louis’ blood. Niall’s stomach does a flip and he feels bile in his throat. 

Zayn extends a warm drink to him and Niall takes it with a weak, grateful smile. Zayn returns it with an equally strained smile and squeezes Niall’s shoulder in what Niall assumes is an attempt at comfort.

Right about five minutes later, the double doors burst open and Niall’s heart jumped to his throat as he thought it was the doctor bearing bad or good news. However, it isn’t—it’s a woman Niall finds vaguely familiar. She’s of upper-middle class if the diamonds around her neck is any indication.

“Where is he?” she demands to know in a high-pitched voice, her eyes darting wildly around. “ _Where_ is he?” 

It hits Niall then where he’s seen her before—on movie poster. This is Louis _mother_ , Oscar-winning actress Claudia Tomlinson.

Everyone is kind of just staring at her and she looks like she’s about to snap at them when the doors open again and Mrs. Jensen walks inside.

“Mrs. Tomlinson,” She says. “I’m glad you could make it—“

“Where is my son?” Claudia sneers and she’s got that authorative and demanding air like Louis has—only is somehow so much scarier coming from her.

“He’s in surgery at the moment,” the headmistress explains, keeping a calm and soothing voice. “It’s all we know right now. We’re waiting for the doctors to update us on his condition.”

Claudia looks startingly pale, she stares at Mrs. Jensen with a perfectly blank face that gradually clouds over. 

“How could you let this happen?” she asks, voice shaking with anger.

The air is suddenly stuffed with tension and Mrs. Jensen looks righteously nervous. 

“Mrs. Tomlinson, please, you have to understand that---“

“I sent my child to your school to learn and grown in a _safe_ environment,” Claudia interrupts ruthlessly. “I pay a lot of money to your school. I shouldn’t be called out from work to be told that my son has gotten shot!”

Mrs. Jensen usually is calm and collected and in control but she definitely hadn’t expected something like this—Harry and Liam’s parents had been upset but nothing like this. Claudia has Mrs. Jensen ruffled and as Niall watches, he can’t help but think that Louis truly is his mother’s son.

Harry’s mother decides to step in. “Claudia,” she says quietly as she approaches them. “We’re all very upset but this isn’t helping any of us right now. No need to upset the kids further.”

“How can you be alright with this, Ann?” Claudia turns to Ann, furious still. “They put our kids in danger. They could’ve died! For all I know Louis is in there dying at this very moment!”

Ann put a hand on Claudia’s shoulder. “We can’t do anything but wait,” Ann says softly, but firmly. “We’re all praying that he’ll turn out alright.”

Claudia’s jaw clenches and she looks at Mrs. Jensen. “Believe me when I say this, this _will_ have serious consequences for your school. This is outrageously unacceptable.”

With that, she turns on her heels and stalks over to a chair, sitting down straight and rigid. 

“Damn,” Zayn mutters into his cup of coffee and Niall can only agree.

Niall stares at her, a little fascinated, this is after all his boyfriend’s mother and while Louis has met Niall’s family, Niall has never met Louis’. They’ve never brought it up and in all truth, Niall hasn’t bothered for the reason that he has always been intimidated by the thought—after all, he was a poor scholarship kid—and right now, that intimidation is further solidified by Louis’ mother. He can’t help but wonder whether Louis has talked to her about him and what he’s said.

+++

It feels like Louis has been under the knife for ages—but it’s probably been about three hours—and Niall feels like he might lose his mind. Sitting here in the waiting room where the angst and fear and worry is running high isn’t helping all that much. He stands up abruptly, letting all the blankets fall to the floor and subsequently drawing everyone’s attention.

“Niall?” Zayn rises to his feet as well, worried.

“I just need to get some air,” Niall says. “I’ll be right back.”

Zayn makes to follow him but Niall stops him. “Let me come with you.”

Niall turns around to stop him but just then does the doctor walk in, looking worn out, blood stains on his white scrubs. She stops in front of the small group, taking in their worried faces.

Claudia gets to her feet in an instant.

“Please, tell me he’s alright,” she says anxiously.

“He is lucky,” the doctor says and the whole room lets out a breath of relief. “There was a splintered rib from where the bullet grazed, a few centimeters to the left and he would’ve had a punctured lung. We’ve removed the bullet and bone shards successfully but he’s lost a lot of blood. We’ve stabilized him but chances are he won’t regain consciousness for another twelve hours or so.” 

Claudia collapses back on her chair, eyes closed, “thank you God,” she whispers under her breath as she clasps her fingers before her face.

“I suggest you all go home and rest and come back again tomorrow,” the doctor says.

Niall steps forward and asks, “Can we see him?”

+++

Niall never thought he’d see Louis look so _small_ and _vulnerable_. He looks as breakable as thin ice as he lays there in the too big hospital bed hooked up to far too many beeping machines, his usual tan skin a concerning pale.

Niall almost bursts into tears at the sight of the boy he loved looking so broken.

Harry does cry—endless supply of tears apparently.

Claudia is the first one that rushes to his side, her face crumbling as her hands over her boy—as if she’s afraid he might actually break if she touches him—she finally puts a slender hand on Louis’ forehead, brushing back his feathery hair.

For some reason, it’s when Niall hears her whisper ‘my baby’ that he can’t hold the tears back anymore. He turns to Zayn who’d been standing right next to him and muffles a sob into his shoulder and Zayn lets him, rubbing his back soothingly.

They stay huddled in the hospital room for as long as they can get away with it and Niall prays sincerely for the first time in a long while. Eventually, the nurses have to gently tell them to come back tomorrow. Niall wants to stay, almost protest, but Claudia beats him to it.

“I’m going to stay.”

No one fights her on it and Niall feels like he might intrude so when everyone shuffles out, he follows reluctantly.

Back in the dormitories, the remaining, unharmed three of them—him, Zayn and Harry—all crawl into the same bed without words. They all know they need the comfort tonight—all badly shaken and traumatized by what had happened.

+++

They get a call the next day that Louis has woken up and they drop everything, rushing over. Liam is already there, clad in the same pale blue hospital clothes as Louis.

Louis who’s sitting up looking absolutely exhausted but _alive_.

Louis looks up as they burst through the door and his eyes meet Niall’s. Niall isn’t even aware he’s moving before he’s pounced on Louis, arms locked tight around his neck with a loud sob that he’s going to be embarrassed about for the rest of his life. Harry and Zayn are right behind him, joining the hug.

“Guys,” Louis rasps with a soft groan of pain. “That kind of hurts.”

They immediately release him but Niall can’t stop touching him, eyes swimming with tears. He touches his cold cheeks as he stares at him like he can’t quite believe that he woke up.

Louis smiles softly. “It’s ok.” He reaches down, gives Niall’s hips an assuring squeeze, staring intently back and the moment is so intense and intimate that the others probably feel like they’re intruding.

Until Harry ruins it when he exclaims, “I thought you were going to die!”

Louis looks at Harry with a bit of a smirk, “I don’t die so easily, Harold.”

“No kidding,” Zayn says with a soft laugh. “But you really gave us a scare.”

“Fill me in, what have I missed?”

“Uh well, for one we all got grilled by the cops about Erika’s death but the truth quickly prevailed; that it was an accident,” Liam says.

“And the fucker who did this to you is going to jail, don’t worry,” Harry adds.

Louis nods. “Good for him. I might’ve killed him otherwise.”

Niall squirms uncomfortably. “Louis, please.” 

“Just kidding.”

Niall smiles and takes Louis’ hand in his. He was so relieved that Louis was alive and already back to his old self; of course, he’d bounce back without a hitch. “I’m so glad you’re alright,” he says softly. “Don’t ever scare me like that again.”

Louis squeezes his hand. “I’ll try my best, Princess.”

Niall can’t resist leaning in and kissing Louis quickly despite the other standing right there.

They are all alive and well and he couldn’t be more happy.

+++

Fast-forward a couple of months and it’s the last senior party—for the graduating seniors that is—and it’s held at some fancy hotel; it’s absolutely massive and absolutely _insane_.

Somehow Niall and the others managed to pass their final exam despite their last couple of moths of turmoil—even _Harry_ managed to pass even though Niall suspects that he succeeded in a less than honest way. But what the hell, he’s Harry Styles and a massive pop star and Niall happens to like him a lot, so he can do whatever the fuck he wants.

Liam didn’t get into his dream university—which was Harvard—he was crushed but luckily, he could wipe the tears with the acceptance letters from all the other Ivy Leagues. Louis hadn’t applied to any university and made true of his words that he would take a year where he did absolutely nothing but have fun.

Towards the end of the party, Niall goes outside to get some fresh air—which he probably should avoid, seeing as he tended to get kidnapped when he did—and Louis joins him not five minutes later.

“Hey, Princess,” Louis hugs him from behind, laughing in his ear. He’s drunk and warm, and Niall is so _in love_.

Niall turns in Louis’ arm and presses a few kisses into his warm mouth. Louis hums as he kisses him back eagerly. He holds him close to his body, so close and so tight, Niall doesn’t think he’d ever want to be anywhere else.

Louis gropes his bum through his short and Niall moans breathily into his mouth, though he has to pull away once Louis tries to push his hand under the waistband of Niall jeans. They’re outside and there’s a few kids there too.

Louis grumbles and Niall laughs, holding him off. “Later,” he promises. Then he pulls him down on the bench next to him and he has to steady Louis—apparently, he’s more drunk than Niall had thought.

“I can’t believe you aren’t going to be in Prescott anymore,” Niall says suddenly; he’d been thinking about it non-stop. He couldn’t imagine Prescott without Louis—what was it even without Louis Tomlinson? “Who’s going to rule the peasants with an iron fist?” he teases.

Louis snorts. “His princess of course,” he shoots back, leaning in and nuzzling Niall’s neck, his hot breath tickling the sensitive skin.

Niall laughs loudly at that. “As if,” he says with a roll of his eyes, he scratches Louis’ scalp, smiling at the content sound he makes. 

“Yes, you are,” Louis straightens up and looks at Niall, suddenly not as drunk. “It’s no secret that you aren’t a fan of how I do things, this is your chance to make Privilege House what you want.”

“That’s…that’s too much pressure,” Niall says nervous at the mere thought; as if he could ever take Louis’ spot, he’d rather not.

“Yes, you can,” Louis says firmly. “You’re going to make your last year worth it, alright? Prescott and Privilege House can still be what you envisioned it to be. It’s not too late. You can still have a fucking awesome Senior year.”

“It’s not going to be the same without you,” Niall says with large, sad eyes.

“Of course it’s not,” Louis says and sounds so cocky that Niall rolls his eyes hard. “But you’re still going to make it a year that you won’t forget.”

“This is a year that I won’t forget—I doubt I can top that,” Niall says.

Louis smirks. “I’m talking about a normal, crazy-free year with no unnecessary drama.”

Niall sighs wistfully. “I doubt I’ll get that, but the thought is nice.”

“You will,” Louis says confidently. 

Niall looks at Louis for a long time and he suddenly can’t ignore the elephant in the room any longer, his voice wavers a little when he asks, “What about us?”

Louis blinks, obviously hadn’t predicted that. “What about us?”

Niall frowns. “You aren’t going to be here anymore, heck I don’t even know where you’re planning to go. Will this still work?”

Long-distance relationships is a gamble Niall isn’t sure he’s ready for. 

Louis doesn’t say anything immediately and it makes Niall anxious.

“Nothing will change—“

“Everything will change!” Niall exclaims, suddenly agitated. “Louis, we won’t be seeing each other every day. How many times will we see each other? Once a week? Every few months?”

“We’re going to make it work,” Louis cups his cheek and forces him to look directly into his eyes, “I promise, we’ll make it work somehow, alright? Don’t worry.”

“I will worry,” Niall whispers and looks away. “The future is too uncertain.”

Louis sighs softly and wraps his arms around Niall, pulling him closer. “We’ll see each other a lot. I promise. I won’t go too far away, I just need you to trust me, baby, alright?”

Niall blinks away the tears and feels like an idiot for getting so emotional. He turns to look at Louis and somehow he just _knows_ that this won’t last. After all they’re young and in high school and Louis will travel the world and find someone more interesting than him. The weight he feels on his chest is almost crushing.

He holds Louis’ beautiful face between his hands and smiles softly, eyes blank with tears. “I love you.”

It’s the first time he tells him that—they aren’t a couple to exchange that words a lot, not like the way he’d been with Zayn—and he doesn’t know why he’d been so scared to utter them; as if they be more true if he says them out loud.

Louis’ face softens and he leans in, kissing Niall sweetly and Niall doesn’t realize he’s crying before he taste his own tears. When they pull away, Louis pulls him into a hug and strokes his fingers through his hair, whispers in his ear;

“I love you too.”

And they just sit there, embracing, till they’re joined by the others—unknowing and drunk and laughing.

“ _Guys_ , apparently Adam O’Donnell was dating the twin sisters—whatever their name are—and they just found out. A class drama I tell ya’,” Harry gossips, delighted and looking disheveled. Liam who’s been glued to Harry’s side all night also looks suspiciously disheveled. Niall sees the way Liam looks at Harry, the way Harry doesn’t look back, and all he can see is a disaster unfolding.

Niall discreetly dries his wet eyes and Louis squeezes his wrist, gently and subtly.

Eventually, Louis and Liam are dragged away by their senior classmates that leaves the juniors behind.

“Guess it’s just the three us of now, huh,” Niall says, sad to see Liam and Louis go, but happy that he still had Zayn and Harry.

Zayn lifts a bottle of alcohol; cheeks flushed red and eyes crinkled, “to a new year in Prescott.”

Niall smiles and clinks his own drinks against Zayn’s, “to a new year.” His smiles falters quickly when he notices Harry looking down at his bottle with a frown.

“Harry?”

Harry slowly looks up, “I don’t know how to say this,” he takes a deep breath, “I’m not coming back next year,” he says with the next breath and so fast that Niall barely catches it.

Niall stares unblinkingly at him. “What?”

Harry looks down and fiddles with the bottle, passing it from one hand to the other. He gives a tiny shrug and looks guilty.

“I just…I never really wanted to juggle singing and school like this and after this year…after everything that has happened…I just, I want to focus on my singing career, y’know?” he looks from Zayn to Niall with big eyes, asking them to understand. “I want to invest everything I have into it. I love it, it’s my dream job come true—the feeling of standing on stage and connecting with thousands of people. I know it’s what I want to do for the rest of my life.”

Niall lets out a shuddery breath and hides his face behind his hands. “Oh my God.”

“Please don’t be mad! Like, I _love_ you guys and this is a really hard decision for me to make,” Harry blabbers.

“We’re not mad,” Zayn says gently and glances at Niall. Niall uncovers his face and smiles weakly at Harry to assure him.

“It’s hard enough that Liam and Louis aren’t coming back…” he sighs then walks over to Harry and hugs him tight. “…I’m happy for you, Harry. I really am. I’m going to miss you but I’m so proud of you for chasing your dreams.”

“I’m going to miss you too!” Harry cries and hugs Niall back so tightly that Niall can’t breathe but he doesn’t pull away. 

Zayn smiles and joins the hug as well. “Just don’t let the fame get to your head, yeah?”

Harry grins. “I wont. Promise. I’ll stay humble.”

“Good boy,” Niall says with a smile. 

“You guys will come to my concert? I’ll send you free tickets and maybe you can join me on my tours, I want to go on a world-wide tour one day.” Harry looks so excited and hopeful that Niall can’t bring himself to feel just the slightest bit mad that he’s kinda ditching them.

“Sure, babe,” Zayn says.

“Great!” Harry trips a little on his feet. “Ok. I have to pee before I wet myself!” He gives both of them a quick, wet kiss on the cheek before he races back into the building.

Zayn and Niall doesn’t say anything for a few moments. Then Zayn breaks the silence,

“And then there was two,” he says dramatically, face solemn and it has the desired effect; Niall cracks up laughing.

“I guess,” he says with a smile. “Just the two of us now.”

Zayn grins. 

“Yeah, it’ll be fun, I’m sure.”

One thing that Niall knows is that it’ll be interesting, for sure. But whatever the future holds and his last year in Prescott Academy, he’s ready for it

Just bring it on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There it is. The end!
> 
> The only other multi-chaptered story that I finished (first was Unhealthy Love) and it's been a real challenge from the start. It's been deleted and gone without updates for months, but I still managed to finish it. I'm kind of proud.
> 
> I just want to thank every single one of you for sticking through with me, old readers as well as new. I wouldn't have finished this story if it wasn't for you--wouldn't be any point in posting it if it didn't have readers.
> 
> Either way, massive thank you. I love you!
> 
> I might take a couple of months break as I won't have as much free time to write. I will still be active on my tumblr.
> 
> Till next time xx

**Author's Note:**

> I will update a soon as I can but be aware that there might be some time in between. Hopefully not too long.
> 
> Tell me what you think and leave kudos if you liked it. thank you x


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